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UNIVERSITY OF CHICHESTER
(an accredited institution of the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON)
Childhood, Social Work and Social Care
THE MANAGEMENT OF DEATH AND LOSS IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL:
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH
by
Lorna Louise Gray
Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
January 2016
2
i
ABSTRACT
This study examines what teachers actively do to manage bereaved primary
school children and whether implementation of death and loss education is
hampered by lack of government policy, poor finance, teachers’embarrassment,
or teachers’ workload. An interdisciplinary design incorporates history,
psychology, English and the professional discipline of education. It uses a
qualitative method to explore whether school policy and practice for helping
bereaved children is affected by the wider influence of past historical events and
increased pressure on teachers to improve academic results. Qualitative
findings are broadened by modest quantitative findings from questionnaires
sent to a purposive sample of thirteen Southern England primary schools.
These findings support prior research suggesting an absence of school-level
death and loss education policy and negligible complementary teacher training
via ITT and CPD.
Significant findings show that CPD prioritises curriculum subjects which attract
supply teacher funding and that the impact of academic testing reduces
teachers’ time to talk with bereaved children. Identified is the lack of
government policy for supporting bereavement in primary schools, contrasting
with a wealth of policy for raising academic standards, suggesting a preference
for measuring children’s wellbeing by academic results rather than emotional
happiness. The effect of reduced school-based counselling support, teachers’
professional concerns at losing emotional control and the effect of historical
events, are factors considered contributory to adult awkwardness with
discussing death and loss in schools. An original contribution to knowledge in
the fields of educational practice and children’s literature explores how teachers
could use developmental bibliotherapy for bereaved children. Despite the
availability of children’s fiction, developmental bibliotherapy is not widely
implemented by teachers in Britain. Thesis findings support the need for
government policy to improve the wellbeing of bereaved children and for the
implementation of school-level death and loss education policies. Appropriate
teacher training through ITT and CPD is called for, to maximise teachers’
professional confidence with bereaved children.
ii
DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP
I, Lorna Louise Gray
declare that the thesis entitled
The Management of Death and loss in the Primary School: An inter-disciplinary
Approach
and the work presented in the thesis are both my own, and have been generated by
me as the result of my own original research. I confirm that:
•this work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at
this University;
•where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any
other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly
stated;
•where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly
attributed;
•where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the
exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work;
•I have acknowledged all main sources of help;
•where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made
clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself;
•none of this work has been published before submission, or [delete as appropriate]
parts of this work have been published as: [please list references]
Signed: ………………………………………………………………………..
Date:………………………………………………………………
Acknowledgements
Firstly, I offer my sincere gratitude to my Director of Studies, Professor Chris Gaine, for his
continued support, encouragement, good humour and kindness throughout the writing of this
thesis, which has greatly benefitted from his extensive knowledge, and his shrewd advice
following reading of chapters.
I also thank the supervisory team, Professor Janet McCray and Professor Vini Lander for
their recent reading of the thesis and thought-provoking comments.
I should like to thank staff in the University of Chichester Learning Resource Centre for their
help with acquiring books and the Research Office for their advice.
I am most grateful to the teachers who gave up their time to help with my quantitative
research and special thanks go to my headteacher and colleagues for supporting the
implementing of daily whole-school bereavement policy and practice.
Finally, I thank all our children Jonathan, Rebecca and Rosanna, for their constant interest
and encouragement, and last but by no means least, my dear husband, Professor Bill Gray,
for supporting me in so many ways during the years of research and writing.
iv
CONTENTS
Abstract i
Declaration of authorship ii
Acknowledgements iii
Definitions and abbreviations iv
Dates of some significant educational policy changes vii
INTRODUCTION 1
Purpose 2
Framework 4
Thesis Structure 4
Rationale for literature reviewed and the four research foci 4
Multiculturalism 6
The children’s voice 6
LITERATURE REVIEW Part One
Chapter 1 BRITISH DEATH AND MOURNING FROM 9
THE VICTORIAN ERA TO 2015
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 9
TURNING POINTS 9
VICTORIAN ERA 10
Attitudes to death 10
Victorian myth 10
Good deaths 10
Laying out 12
Funerals 13
Mourning Attire 14
Middle-classes 14
Poorer classes 14
Gender 14
THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 15
Events instigating change 16
Absent deaths 16
Declining church attendance and women’s beliefs 16
The influenza Pandemic 17
Reform 18
Cremations 18
Monuments 18
INTER-WAR YEARS 1918-1939 19
Religion and uncertainty 19
Inter-war Spiritualism 19
Social problems 20
Inter-war cremations 20
SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-1945 20
Civilians 21
v
Myth of the Blitz 21
Post-war mourning 21
1950S, 1960s 21
Religion and secularisation 23
AFTER THE 1960S 25
Approaches to death 25
Death denial and invisible death 25
Reasons for taboo 26
Overcrowding 26
Death-discussing culture 26
Visible death and the media effect 27
Medicalisation 28
Invisible death 28
‘The Order of the Good Death’ 29
Death impact 30
Infant death 30
Ageing and death 31
Revival of death 31
CHAPTER CONCLUSION 33
LITERATURE REVIEW Part Two
Chapter 2 ATTACHMENT AND LOSS 35
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 35
ATTACHMENT 36
Key thinkers 37
Freud 37
Klein 37
Bowlby 38
Mothers 38
Other attachments 39
Winnicott 40
Good-enough mothers 40
Not good-enough mothers 41
LOSS 41
Longitudinal loss 41
Children’s understanding of death and loss 43
Death concepts 43
Developmental understanding 44
Magical thinking 44
Irreversibility and irrevocability 45
Ages for mourning 46
Losses other than death 46
Effect of loss on children 48
Reactions and behaviour 49
Grief phases and stages 50
Passive and active 50
Worden’s four tasks and the Dual-Process model 51
Adult’s handling of bereaved children 53
‘Embarrassed denial’ and realism 53
Too good a childhood? 54
Bereavement figures 54
vi
Adult reticence 55
Funerals and viewing bodies 56
Supportive strategies 57
Funerals 57
Post-funeral support 57
Bereavement through divorce 59
Bereavement through parental imprisonment 60
CHAPTER CONCLUSION 63
Chapter 3 INTER-DISCIPLINARY METHODOLOGIES 65
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 65
Research questions generated by the literature review 65
RESEARCH DESIGN 66
Methodology for Literature Review 67
Methodology for Researching Death and loss
in Children’s Literature 68
Methodology for Researching Practising Teachers 69
Paradigms 69
Method for Questionnaires 70
Sampling: geography 72
Sampling: teachers 73
Sampling: religious affiliation 74
Question format 74
Closed 75
Open 75
Multiple choice 75
Data Gathering 75
Pilot group 75
Ethics 77
Informed consent 77
Second ethics form 77
Gatekeepers for questionnaires 78
Non-response bias 78
Interviews 79
Methodology for Evaluation of Bibliotherapy 80
Methodology for Analysing Educational Policy 81
CHAPTER CONCLUSION 81
Chapter 4 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF THE TREATMENT OF
DEATH AND LOSS IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE 83
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 83
HISTORICAL CONTEXT 84
Adult and child 84
Fables 84
NINETEENTH CENTURY BOOKS 85
Books for improvement 85
The Fairchild Family 85
Good death 85
Augusta’s funeral 87
vii
Jessica’s First Prayer 88
Happy death 88
Changing views 88
TWENTIETH-CENTURY BOOKS 88
A trend away from didacticism 88
Peter Pan and Wendy 89
Sibling death and mislocation 90
Object-relations 90
Reality-testing 91
The culture of the audience 91
BOOKS FROM THE 1930S TO THE 1960S 92
Pleasure as goal (with didacticism) 92
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) 92
Death and loss 92
Religion 93
Mothers and transitional objects 94
Wardrobes 94
Tom’s Midnight Garden (1958) 95
Bereavement as a feeling 95
Gardens and reality 95
Other worlds 96
1960S ONWARDS AND PICTURE BOOKS 97
A different notion of reality 97
The Snowman ([1978](2013) 98
Layout 98
Love and loss 98
Home and away 99
Cultural translation 100
Granpa (1984) 100
Inference 100
Mourning 101
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BOOKS 102
A covert adult audience 102
The Copper Tree 103
Memories 103
Good death 103
Cultural comfort 104
Divorce 105
Two Homes (2002) 105
Accentuating the positive 105
It’s not your Fault Koko Bear(1998) 106
Good -enough parents 106
CHAPTER CONCLUSION 107
Chapter 5 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF QUESTIONNAIRES 109
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 109
TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES 110
Initial training and continuing professional development 110
Gender; years teaching; religion 111
Teachers bereaved as children 113
Teachers bereaved as adults 115
Professional experience 116
viii
Teachers’ feelings on speaking with bereaved children 117
Training 118
Relevant staff meetings and inset 119
Policies for Death and Loss Education 121
Written policy for Death and Loss Education? 121
Action Plan 122
Responsibility for Death and Loss Education 132
Counsellors in schools 125
Teachers’ awareness of guidelines to support them 127
Curriculum 129
Do you cover death and loss? 129
Using books 131
Interpretation of ‘Good Death’ 134
Open questions 134
Prompts 134
Question order 135
Respondents’ relationship to religion 135
Other responses 137
CHAPTER CONCLUSION 140
Chapter 6 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF AN EVALUATION
OF BIBLIOTHERAPY 145
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 145
HISTORY AND DEFINITION 146
History 146
Definition 146
The self-help tradition 147
Clinical use 148
DEVELOPMENTAL BIBLIOTHERAPY IN SCHOOLS 148
Six goals 150
Teachers as quasi-therapists 151
The limits of teacher intervention 152
Interventions within the competence of teachers 153
Stage One: Identification 154
Stage Two: Selection 155
Stage Three: Presentation 157
Stage Four: Follow-up 157
Guided reading 158
Using fairy tales 159
A literature of grief and problem-solving 159
Place in the curriculum 161
The value of fantastic stories 162
The Me and the Not Me 163
Mother-figures 164
Financial constraints 165
CHAPTER CONCLUSION 166
Chapter 7 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF RELEVANT
EDUCATIONAL POLICY 169
ix
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 169
A policy gap 170
HISTORY OF PROVISION AND REFORM 171
1870-1944 171
1944-1988 172
1988 and after 173
National Curriculum 173
Special educational Needs and the Elton Report 174
National system of assessment 175
Dearing report 176
2003 Every Child Matters and Wellbeing 177
Five outcomes 177
Training 178
Formal implications for schools 179
2003-5 Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning 180
2004 Select Committee for Health 181
2008 NICE Recommendations 183
2005, 2007 Parliamentary debates 184
TEACHERS’ SKILLS IN RELATION TO POLICY CONCERMS 184
Embarrassed denial 184
Initial training and CPD 186
The role of counselling 187
Teachers’ understanding of counselling 187
Improved wellbeing 188
Academic improvement 188
Funding for counselling 189
Counselling in the geographical area of sample 190
CHAPTER CONCLUSION 191
Chapter 8 CONCLUSION 195
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 195
The cultural and the psychological context 196
DISCUSSION 197
RECOMMENDATIONS 205
FINAL REFLECTIONS 207
List of Tables
1: Piagetian Stages 44
2: Grief Phases and Stages 51
3: Positivism and intrepretivism 70
4: Contrasting inductive and deductive methods 71
5: Respondents’ age ranges 111
6: Years of teaching 112
7: Type of school related to teacher’s religion and gender 113
8: Teachers bereaved as children 114
9: Teachers who had taught and / or spoken with bereaved children 116
10: How teachers felt discussing losses with children 118
11: Number of teachers responding to questions about training 119
12: Would it/ does it help to have training days? 119
13: Comments on relevant staff meetings/inset 119
14: Does training make it easier to discuss death and loss? 120
15: Responsibility for Death and Loss Education 123
16: What difference would it make to have someone responsible? 124
17: Availability of counselling 125
x
18: What difference would it make to have someone responsible? 124
19: Observed outward signs of bereavement 127
20: Teachers knowing of and/ or using published guidelines etc. 127
21: Teachers aware of external bereavement agencies 130
22: Is death and loss covered in your school curriculum? 130
23: Using books with bereaved children: teacher’s comments 132
24: Number of teachers using specific books 133
25: Other titles mentioned 133
26: Christian teachers, by age, faith schools, equating ‘good death’
as being ‘with God’ 135
27: Christian teaches not choosing religious statement for ‘good death’;
by age and gender 136
28: Chosen prompt comments defining ‘good death’ 137
29: Additional phrases elated to loved ones 140
30: Stages in the bibliotherapeutic process 153
31: Questions for teachers to ask of a book 155
CHART 1: Chosen prompt comments defining ‘good death’: graph 138
DIAGRAM1: Representation of research journey 5
APPENDICES
Planning for interviews 209
Questionnaire 210
Letters to schools 218
Letter 1: Introduction to the headteacher 218
Letter 2: Letter to headteacher regarding interviews 219
Letter 3: Letter to teachers regarding interviews 220
Letter 4: From head of primary education to headteachers inviting
teachers to be interviewed
Second ethics form 221
Email letters; requests for information 228
School related information; school policy for death and loss education 230
Photo. of school memorial bowl 233
GLOSSARY 235
List of References 237
Bibliography Primary Texts 254
Bibliography Secondary Texts 257
xi
Definitions and Abbreviations
ACT Association for Children with Life-threatening or Terminal Conditions
AFT American Federation of Teachers
BACP British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
BCE Before Common Era
CAR Centre for Appearance
CBN Child Bereavement Network
C. of E. Church of England
CPD Continuing professional Development
CRC Community Research Company
CTPA The Cosmetic, Toiletry & Perfumery Association
CWRC Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre
DCSF Department for Children, Schools and Families (June 2007-2010)
DES Department of Education and Science and the Welsh Office
DfES Department for Education and Skills (2001-June 2007)
DfE Department for Education (2010-date)
DfWP Department for Work and Pensions (coalition 2010-2015)
DoH Department of Health
ECM: CCF Every Child Matters: Change for Children (Green Paper Sept 2003)
ECM Every Child Matters (2004)
ECM: NS Every Child Matters: Next Steps (2004a)
ERA Education Reform Act
ITE Initial Teacher Education
ITT Initial Teacher Training
KS1 Key Stage 1 ; KS2 Key Stage 2
LEA Local Education Authority (later years LA: Local Authority)
LSA Learning Support Assistant
xii
NAT National Attainment Tests
NCB National Children’s Bureau
NCGE National Centre for Guidance Education (Dublin)
NDC National Death Centre
NFER National Foundation for Educational Research
NICE National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
NOR Number on the roll
NSPCC National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
NQT Newly qualified teacher
OFSTED Office for Standards in Education
PHIAC Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee
PPA Preparation, Planning and Assessment
PSHCE Personal, Social, Health, Citizenship Education
PSHE Personal, Social, Health and Economic
R.E. Religious Education
SAT (Standard Attainment Tests)
SCDC School Curriculum and Development Council (formed 1984)
SEAL Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning
SEC School Examination Council (formed 1984)
SEN Special Educational Needs
SLT Senior Leadership Team
SMSC Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural
TE Therapeutic Education
TES Times Educational Supplement
xiii
DATES OF SOME SIGNIFICANT EDUCATIONAL POLICY CHANGES
1870 Elementary Education Act:
Schooling extended to 5-13 years oldq
Parents could be fined for children’s non-attendance
1902 Balfour Act
School Boards abolished
Elementary schools control was transferred from School Boards to local education
authorities.
1918 Education Act (Fisher)
The school leaving age was raised to fourteen.
1944 Education Act (Butler):
Primary education was distinguished from secondary education
Compulsory schooling was ensured for children aged five to fifteen
The system of grammar schools, secondary modern and secondary technical schools
and free education for all secondary pupils was introduced.
1972 School leaving age raised to 16
1978 Warnock introduced the term Special Educational Needs (SEN)
1981 Education Act
Introduced a Statement of Educational Needs for children requiring additional support
and an integrative approach to including children in mainstream schools
1984 Schools
Council was abolished, teachers’ influence on curriculum content
was reduced
More power was given to the Schools Examination Council (members nominated by
the Secretary of State)
1988 Education Reform Act: (Baker)
National Curriculum introduced for England, Northern Ireland and Wales in all State
schools
Key Stage testing (Standard Assessment Tests) established (at 7,11,14,16)
Managers were now called School Governors
Control shifted away from Local Education Authorities, the Education Secretary was
granted more decision making power
Schools were given more freedom to compete ‘in a market environment’
2004 Every Child Matters: Change for Children (DfES)
2014 New Primary Curriculum England and Wales (DfE)
1
INTRODUCTION
Purpose
The aim of this thesis is to explore and address the management of death and loss in
the primary school. To clarify, while death is a permanent and irreversible absence of
life1, Milton (2004) defines loss as ‘when anything that is valued or anyone we are
attached to is removed from our lives’ (Milton 2004: 58) therefore including, but not
restricted to, loss from death. Although the mourning duration might differ, the term
‘bereavement’ will be used in this study to mean the period of mourning following either
death or loss. Duffy (2003) suggests a wide range of possible losses or ‘little deaths’
(Duffy 2003: 5) affecting children, including moving house and leaving friends behind;
close friends or family moving away, and parental separation or divorce. Although not
represented to great extent, the discussion of more than one source of children’s grief
provides a more rounded contribution to the field of educational policy, than would
occur from limiting the study to death-related bereavement.
This study was initiated by an unsettling personal experience with a distraught,
physically demonstrative bereaved child in my classroom of four to five year olds. I
discovered later that the child had experienced the imprisonment of a parent whom he
had not seen for several years. Being untrained in managing bereavement and feeling
professionally deficient in knowing how to help him, led me to an intuition that teachers
elsewhere could be equally untrained to help bereaved children. My subsequent
reaction was to improve the situation in my own school and further. Despite the
Children Act 2004 clarifying that caring for children’s wellbeing is the responsibility of
schools2, and having recognised that a range of losses can seriously affect children’s
happpiness, I realised there was no school-level written policy to help teachers with
bereaved children. A decision to introduce better school procedures to help bereaved
children was backed by my headteacher, and I took on responsibility for in-house
training of teachers. Two colleagues found the introductory training discussion
challenging, especially the suggestion that euphemisms for death should be avoided.
I realised that to significantly help colleagues, research into areas of psychology not
covered in my training (ITT), or offered since in continuing professional development
(CPD), would help. This led to researching attachment theory which prompted an
exploration into not only the effect on children of death, but also a broader
1 Notwithstanding religious beliefs on spiritual afterlife.
2 Great Britain: Children Act 2004 (2004: 3, Part 2: 10:2 a)2
2
understanding of losses perceived as less significant, such as divorce and parental
imprisonment, the grief from which can replicate grief from death. Colleagues’ unease
with discussing death and loss initiated my interest in exploring why attitudes to
discussing death have changed and what had influenced the changes. Arguably, the
effects of world events have reduced the ease with which death was once spoken
about (Jupp and Gittings 1999; Jalland 2005; Parkes, Laungani and Young 2006) and
influenced cultural unease3 with discussing the deaths of people known to us (Gorer
[1965] 1977; Kearl 1989; Doughty 2011). I surmised that this reticence is partly
responsible for perpetuating a lack of death and loss education in primary schools.
Nonetheless, knowing that unease with discussing ‘difficult’ losses with children might
be only one reason for the lack of death and loss education for children and teachers, I
explored the effects of social history and past educational policy to better understand
the current schools situation.
The study is particularly important for exploring how past educational policy has
prioritised children’s academic success over emotional wellbeing. The effect on schools
of educational policy reveals a disregarding of the impact of grief on children’s
concentration, and consequent lessening of their learning potential. This situation is
intensified from a widespread lack of bereavement training for teachers, causing a
possible lack of professional confidence and the significance of certain losses being
overlooked. The contribution of the thesis to the fields of research is now discussed.
Framework
An inter-disciplinary research design was considered the best approach for accruing
trustworthy data from several sources. This decision led to selecting specific fields of
research for their complementary content, and their ability to show a parallel trajectory
of events. Rather than ‘stand alone’ chapters, the chapters link together and detail
findings upholding the premise that ease with death and loss has converted to
‘embarrassed denial’; moreover, that this attitude infiltrates school culture. Analysis of
the data from the field of children’s literature not only supports the historical trajectory,
complementing the psychological literature reviewed, but also provides ideological
concepts informing the theory behind the process of developmental bibliotherapy. As
this strategy as a resource in primary schools is under-researched in Britain, the
findings make an original contribution to knowledge. Notwithstanding that the
educational policy chapter follows an historical trajectory and might have been
3 Not necessarily world religions other than Christian.
3
positioned earlier in the structure within the literature review, it was placed at the end of
the thesis for two reasons: firstly, and most importantly, the analysis of educational
data produced significant findings, making it more relevant to group that content with
other findings chapters. Secondly, the findings from other chapters preceding
educational policy provide an informed scaffold to explore the current reasons for the
lack of death and loss education.
The findings, which reflect prior research, support the premise that teachers in different
geographical areas are not receiving death and loss education (Crenshaw 1995; Eiser
et al4 1995; Bowie 2000; Jackson and Colwell 2002; Rowling 2003 and Potts 2013),
either during Initial Teacher Training (ITT) or Continuing Professional Development
(CPD). They also show that this situation continues despite acknowledgement in the
2010 white paper The Importance of Teaching (DfE: November 2010), that schools
have a fundamental role in the health and wellbeing of children (DfE 2010: 28; 2.48).
Past research (Shipman et al 2001) suggests that school-based policies for daily death
and loss education are negligible. Teachers in a purposive sample, in schools without a
school-level policy, are shown to adopt a mainly passive approach, managing loss-
related situations as they arise.
The daily wellbeing of children affected by a range of bereavements is therefore mostly
unplanned for, outside the area of critical incident. To comprehensively research the
reasons for the lack of death and loss education, it became clear that as well as a need
for more than one field of study, more than one research method was required. The
two methods of research used to collect and analyse data are qualitative and
quantitative, notwithstanding that modest quantitative data from questionnaires to
schools are analysed qualitatively. The Methodology will outline the methods and
approaches to the literature review and findings chapters, which inform each other, but
are discussed independently, in line with an inductive (Strauss and Corbin 1998) and
iterative approach5 (Srivastava 2005).
4 Eiser C., Havermans T., Rolph P. and Rolph J. (1995)
5 meaning making and processing of analysed data
4
Thesis structure
The overall structure is as follows, and the rationale for it is represented in Diagram 1
on the following page.
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 Literature Review: History of Death and Mourning
CHAPTER 2 Literature Review: Attachment and Loss
CHAPTER 3 Research Questions:
1. How has the historical trajectory (chapter 1) and psychological theory
(chapter 2) impacted on attitudes to death, mourning and what
teachers say and do?
2. How is the material covered in chapters 1 and 2 reflected in the
parallel trajectory of children’s literature?
3. Given the pattern of embarrassed denial and the psychology of loss,
what could psychologically untrained teachers do in school to help
bereaved children?
4. If there are initiatives they could use, do the demands of teaching and
assessment allow time to implement them and if not, why not?
Inter-Disciplinary Methodology
1. Methodology for researching death and loss in children’s literature
2. Methodology for questionnaires
3. Methodology for evaluating bibliotherapy
4. Methodology for analysing educational policy
CHAPTER 4 Analysis and Findings: Treatment of death and loss in children’s
literature
CHAPTER 5 Analysis and Fndings: Questionnaires
CHAPTER 6 Analysis and Fndings: Evaluation of bibliotherapy
CHAPTER 7 Analysis and Findings: Research into relevant educational policy
CHAPTER 8 Conclusion.
Rationale for the literature reviewed and the four research foci
The choice of chapters explored in the literature review was influenced by several
factors: my professional experience of awkwardness from adults when discussing life-
changing losses; the likelihood that adult awkwardness emanated from earlier historical
roots, and the realisation that greater understanding of troubled children in my own
class would require a more profound knowledge of the effects of loss, grief and
mourning. The first chapter of the literature review (Chapter One of the thesis) confirms
that world events have greatly influenced society, ultimately affecting twenty-first
century educational practice. Chapter two of the review (and thesis) examines the field
5
of psychological research to find reasons for loss-related grief and mourning. This
creates a firm foundation for analysing the data emerging from the fields of literature,
bibliotherapy and education. Each findings chapter contributes qualitative data to
answer questions arising from the literature review, and the first findings chapter also
contributes quantitative data.
DIAGRAM 1: REPRESENTATION OF RESEARCH JOURNEY
My professional experience: primary schools in my
locality seem to deal poorly with death and loss,
there’s a climate of ‘embarrassed denial’.
Why?
What’s
behind
this?
What can the psychology of
loss and attachment tell me?
Books are the obvious teacher’s tool, can they help?
Would tracing their content over time show transition of
social attitudes and perceptions about children?
How do present-day teachers in shire counties
like mine see their role and its possibilities?
So, what might teachers in my situation,
in schools like mine, actually do?
Is bibliotherapy a practical and accessible
strategy for teachers? What’s its track record?
But what’s the policy context? Why are we here?
Does recent policy offer legitimacy for this work?
How can I
research
these
effectively?
Multiple methodologies
Conclusion: teachers in English contexts similar to mine have been
partially hamstrung by our own reticence about death and loss,
inevitably rooted in our culture and history. Bibliotherapy is a useable
tool; the educational policy climate is unhelpful, even obstructive.
Hunch: it’s deeply rooted in
English culture at least as far
back as Victorian times.
6
Multiculturalism
Having stated the choice of chapters, and the research design, it is important to clarify
reasons for a decision to explore a non multi-cultural research area. Although twenty-
first century Britain is now no longer mostly Christian, the predominant culture of my
target context is not multi-cultural, but Christian and secular. A large proportion of the
thesis follows a trajectory during which time other religions were not represented in
large numbers in Britain. Research will show that nineteenth and early twentieth
century Britain reflects a culture where Christian ‘good death’, high church-attendance
and prescribed Christian mourning rituals dominated. This is reflected in
complementary chapters. Furthermore, although not a central feature of the research,
the quantitative findings focus on a geographical area with no faith schools other than
Christian. The nucleus of the purposive sample is an area comprising communities that
are primarily European, can be described as ‘peripheral’ (Gaine 2005: 6), and therefore
not part of non-White multi-cultural communities, and where the second highest
language spoken other than English is Polish.
Moreover, death and bereavement across cultures has already been researched
(Parkes, Laungani and Young: [1996] 2015), and other studies of teacher attitudes to
bereavement focus on regional areas with different characteristics (Holland 2001; Potts
2013).
The children’s voice
However, as well as clarifying what could be done within the scope of this study, what
could not be addressed through quantitative research was the ‘children’s voice’ which
has been the topic of other research (Clark, McQuail and Moss 2003; Pascal and
Bertram 2009). This decision was made for several reasons. The priority was to add to
a neglected area of research, asking teachers what practice they employ to manage
bereaved children. As the research was neither a case study of one particular school,
nor participant observation in which the researcher was part of the observed group
(Wisker 2008: 203), children could not be met with. Following on from that, some
sampled schools did not teach beyond age seven and my professional experience
suggested that asking young children to complete questionnaires was unreliable.
Although questionnaires can be adapted for young children, they can be ‘tokenistic’
should only this approach be used (Clark, McQuail and Moss 2003: 32: 3.4). Lastly,
having no access to counsellors in schools, or background information about individual
children, it was considered ehtically problematic to discuss bereavements with children
unknown to me. However, the literature review does mention research citing children’s
7
opinions on discussing bereavement and as such, children’s thoughts on talking with
adults about death and loss are included.
I now turn to the literature review, which begins by discussing some of the best-known
past and innovative research in the area of the history of death and mourning, from
which current attitudes can be traced. Having provided the foundations, the rest of the
literature review discusses what is meant by loss, and how grief affects adults and
children. This enables a more informed platform for discussing the data from findings
chapters. As the thesis focus is death and loss, it is worth pointing out that the reading
of cited papers similar to the Laming Report (2003) 6 could be upsetting. To maintain
anonymity, the county references have been replaced by asterisks if a reference, or an
online address, and by the words ‘Southern England’ or ‘sampled area’.
6 Laming Report [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273183/5730.pdf
(accessed 2.11.15)
8
9
LITERATURE REVIEW Part One
Chapter 1
BRITISH DEATH AND MOURNING FROM
THE VICTORIAN ERA TO 2015
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
This chapter contributes a framework from which the history of death, dying, loss, and
mourning rituals can be explored for their contribution to present day approaches to
death education. The chapter focuses on the effects on Britain of significant events
from the nineteenth century to 2015. The research underpinning the chapter includes
the influence on mourning from world wars, medicalisation and secularisation,
providing a background for discussing theories of ‘death denial’, ‘good’ and ‘bad death’,
and ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ death. Notwithstanding an awareness and acceptance of
more recent diversity in British culture as it has become increasingly multi-cultural, the
chapter nonetheless focuses on Christian and secular death rituals and the effects of
loss on different classes, ages and genders of people affected by those philosophies –
to attempt a more comprehensive account would have been unrealistic and therefore
superficial. An informed backdrop therefore underpins other thesis areas, including the
quantitative data, and the reticence of church and secular schools to teach death
education.
A possible ‘revival of death’ (Walter 2005) linked to individualism, concludes the
discussion. Although the phrase ‘death-denial’ is frequently referred to herein, and was
widely used in the 1950s and 1960s, Jalland reminds us that the phrase is not only
value-laden, but has meaning dependent on the professional using it (Jalland 2010:
184). The phrase is therefore defined as: an avoidance of discussion about death and
condolences. It is with all these ideas in mind that I begin by examining aspects of
death, bereavement and mourning in nineteenth century, Victorian Britain.
TURNING POINTS
There were two major turning points in the history of death, grief, and mourning
in Britain between 1830 and 1920. (Jalland 2005: 358)
Jalland states that one major turning point occurred in the 1870s and 1880s during
Victorian times, when the forces of religion, demography and culture were affected by
10
the decline in both mortality and Evangelical fervour; the other was the First World War
(Jalland 2005: 358; Jupp and Gittings 1999: 251). To discover what led to the changes
at those times, I will begin exploring death and mourning in Victorian Britain.
VICTORIAN ERA
Attitudes to death
Victorian myth
The theory that nineteenth-century communities were more comfortable with
discussing death than those of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries can be premised
on the belief that the rituals and death-talk of the Victorian ‘celebration’ of death’ (Curl
1972), helped alleviate grief. In support of this, analysis of recent mourning trends by
Parkes, Laungani and Young (2006) demonstrates that twenty-first century ‘traditional
mourning customs have been largely abandoned and the rituals of cremation or burial
of the dead have lost much of the emotional significance, which in the past made them
a source of support for the bereaved’ (Parkes, Laungani and Young 2006: 4). Jalland
asserts that criticism of Victorian mourning pomp and expenditure has been judged
mainly on lavish formal requirements (Jalland 2005: 300) and from evidence of
ostentatiousness attributed to ‘ceremonial state occasions’ (Jalland 2005: 196), which
differed from quieter, family funerals. Furthermore, that ‘twentieth century censure has
distorted our view of the Victorians’ own experiences and responses to bereavement’
(Jalland 2005: 300).
Strange agrees that accounts of ritualistic Victorian ‘respectability and funeral
extravagance’ (Strange 2010: 99) have been mythologised (Strange 2010: 99) by
subsequent generations and that this is to the detriment of acknowledging the comfort
that was gained from the rituals themselves (Strange 2010: 99). Although when
‘separating attitudes to death into epochs, historians risk creating categories which
inevitably shape, and limit, the questions asked of those cultures’ (Strange 2010: 20),
value remains in exploring how attitudes to bereavement have evolved, and affect the
current climate of ‘embarrassed denial’.
Good deaths
It is noteworthy that the demographic structure of the nineteenth century was affected
by high rates of infant deaths and a low, adult average life expectancy. Survival from
diseases such as typhoid and cholera largely relied on luck, although by mid-Victorian
11
times quarantine legislation began to improve death- rates7 (Strange 2010: 27).
Children under twelve months old suffered 220 deaths for every 1000 live births
between 1891 and 1900 (Strange 2010: 230), with the highest rate amongst the
working classes in industrial cities. The widespread expectation was that one child per
family would die in infancy and notwithstanding the huge sorrow felt, communities
became accustomed to untimely death and tried to see it as God’s will (Jalland 2005:
121; Jupp and Gittings 1999: 237). In this climate, the force of Evangelical Christianity
which was most prominent in the 1850s and 1860s (Jalland 2005: 20; Jupp and
Gittings 1999: 232) influenced not only attitudes to dying,8 but rejuvenated earlier
common perception of what was either ‘good death’ or ‘bad death’.
Victorian ‘bad death’ was sudden, without time to say goodbye to family or more
importantly, make peace with God (Jalland 1996, cited by Strange 2010: 48), thus
condemning the dying to ‘the eternal punishment of hellfire’ (Jupp and Gittings 1999:
236). ‘Good death’ was prepared for gradually and piously, with the dying still
conscious, surrounded by family and in some cases, clergy (Jalland 2005: 21).
However, beliefs began changing amongst more progressive Christians (Jupp and
Gittings 1999: 236) and the 1860s started to see a decline in both the ‘literal belief in
hell as everlasting physical punishment’ (Jalland 2005: 266) and the concept of Heaven
as a ‘static, theocentric …restful place for psalm-singing saints’ (Jalland 2005: 266).
Theologians’ emphasis on incarnation rather than atonement (Jalland 2005: 273) made
dying less about judgement on sinners and more about reunion with loved-ones in a
‘Heavenly home’ (Jalland 2005: 273). This became particularly important to families
where many young women were dying from consumption (Jupp and Gittings 1999:
237; Jalland 2005: 41)9.
The bereaved sought emotional consolation in a culture of predominantly Christian
piety, which was supported by the language of the Christian burial service. This
‘ameliorated grief by reaffirming belief in heavenly reunion’ (Jalland 1996, cited by
Strange 2010: 100; Jupp and Gittings 1999: 242). The opportunity for working through
grief possibly came not only from religious hope, but also from the reassurance offered
from ritual and the consolation offered by community support and sharing memories of
7 The overall death rate fell from 21.8 per 1000 in 1868, to 18.1 in 1888(Strange 2010: 27).
8 ‘For early and mid-Victorians, ‘death and suffering were acts of divine providence which
Christians must accept with submission’ (Jalland 2005: 51).
9 Consumption (tuberculosis) killed more people that smallpox and cholera combined (Jalland
2005: 40).
12
the deceased. Strange asserts that gestures of ‘communal sympathy reminded the
bereaved that they were surrounded by friends’ (Strange 2010: 121).
Laying out
As most people died at home, 10 communities were overtly affected by the dying
process; a direct contrast to the twenty-first century removal of the dying. A prominent
use of community women was for laying out corpses. In Victorian middle-class and
upper-class families, nurses or female servants instructed by nurses, usually laid out
the corpse at home11 (Jalland 2005: 211). In working-class communities, laying out in
homes provided an essential role for untrained, local women who charged a small
amount. However, the threat to health from quick decomposition of corpses made it
unwise to retain cadavers in homes, and it became considered unhygienic to the living
for women to undertake the task, especially midwives12 (Strange 2010: 72).
Disagreement transpired as to who should lay out the dead. The situation was possibly
influenced by the male wish to professionalise the care of the body in death as well as
life (Strange 2010: 72), and was supported by a report stating that corpses should be
removed and dealt with by ‘careful’ professionals (Hall 1894, cited by Strange 2010:
72).
It was also the year that Blum was credited with having discovered the temporary
embalming qualities of formaldehyde, although its use on human corpses in Britain was
not instant and was unlikely to have affected the decision to exclude women from the
work13. Nonetheless, whereas women laying out the dead experienced a power they
may otherwise not have known, (Hallam 1997, in Field, Hockey and Small 1997: 117)
regardless of their class, a class divide was revealed in the ostentatiousness of
funerals, and Jalland suggests that despite providing ‘a socially approved catharsis of
grief’ (Hinton 1979, cited by Jalland 2005: 210), the expectations from funerals could
also provoke financial concern for poorer mourners.
10 See Jalland (2005: 104).
11 There were a few exceptions to this. Sir John Gladstone requested that his ‘male retainers
attend him as well as his daughter’ (Jalland 2005: 100), but this was unusual.
12 The Midwives Act 1902 prohibited midwives from laying out the dead (cited by Strange 2010:
72) unless attending a stillbirth (Midwife 1935: 280, section E). [online] Available at
http://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/data/VOLUME083-1935/page280-volume83-october1935.pdf
(accessed 26.5.15).
13 Blum was credited with its discovery as more than an antiseptic, but Trillat had discussed it
earlier. (Simmons 2014: 28).
13
Funerals
Whilst wealthier families could select a burial site and elaborate monuments, the
anxiety of poorer mourners was to avoid burying relatives in ‘an obscure corner of the
churchyard where the nettles grew’ (Dickens 2000: 35, cited by Jupp and Gittings
1999: 224). The distress and stigma of a pauper’s (parish) funeral with an unmarked
grave was to be avoided at all costs. Mingled with shame was the fear of potential risk
to corpses from ‘body-snatchers’ (Jupp and Gittings 1999: 225), who plundered graves
and sold cadavers for medical anatomy classes. The determination to avoid this
happening was not least because dissection was thought to invalidate the chance of
Christian resurrection. Equally shocking in a culture of sexual prudery was the
possibility that a woman could be disinterred and dissected whilst ‘subjected to the
gaze of lads learning to use the incision knife’ (ibid.). Membership of a Burial Club
ensured that a decent burial took place, and by 1897 there remained more than four
million Burial Club members, regularly paying undertakers and publicans to avoid the
shame of a parish burial (ibid.). The high rate of early death made the male-dominated
job of Victorian undertaker one of the most secure and prosperous available.
Much has been recorded about Victorian funeral extravagance. The 1843 Chadwick
report14 condemned funeral expenditure, concluding that four to five million pounds
were ‘annually thrown into the grave’ (Chadwick 1843, cited by Howarth 1997: 124).
Nevertheless, the elaborate funerals with plumed horses and floral wreathes requested
by many of the poor into the twentieth century, became less usual for the middle-
classes. However, whereas it could be assumed that eventually, the poor ‘caught up
with’ middle class views, Strange suggests that this ‘influence’ should be regarded
cautiously (Strange 2010: 117). The importance of community identity, and the creating
of ‘symbolic spaces’ in which to express grief and condolences (Strange 2010: 118)
partly encouraged the continuation of traditional ritual for working-class families, and
recent thinking suggests that although funerals were considered ‘ostentatious’, they
were not entirely about display (Jupp and Gittings 1999: 242), but more about providing
a way to manage grief, whilst acknowledging the place of the deceased in society
(Strange 2010: 123). Strange suggests that ‘this reading of the funeral persists today: it
represents “the finished picture of a person”’ (ibid.) and allows those not attending the
funeral to show their sympathy (ibid.).
14 Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain.
14
Mourning attire
Middle classes
Nonetheless, the upholding of traditions safeguarded ‘an additional line of business for
the entrepreneur-undertaker’ (Howarth 1997: 123). The suggestion that undertakers
were ‘greedy, heartless men enforcing an expensive hierarchy of funeral goods on the
victimised poor’ (Howarth 1997: 124) ignores the possible interrelation between
Victorian funeral regalia and grief. Jay’s London General Mourning Warehouse opened
in 1841 for the specific purpose of providing mourning clothes, including non-reflective
crape 15 for women’s clothes and veils and half-mourning of lilac and white for children.
Whilst men wore a black arm-band, most middle class women’s rituals were more
elaborate and expensive. Staples such as black lace-edged handkerchiefs, dresses,
crape-edged capes and veils were required for different mourning stages, despite the
health issues16 that accompanied the proximity of crape to the face (Jalland 2005:
195). Jet jewellery set with seed pearls or opals symbolising tears, and lockets bearing
the picture or hair of the deceased, were also commonly worn (Jupp and Gittings 1999:
247; Strange 2010: 118).
Poorer classes
The emphasis on cultural expectations to wear black, despite the financial hardship
suffered by poorer families, was ‘so ingrained in the culture of death that to overlook it
was to invite speculation on the gravity of loss’ (Strange 2010: 120). Poorer women
were determined to dress appropriately, even if items were pawned afterwards
(Strange 2010: 19). Whilst the cathartic nature of mourning attire remains unproven
(Cannadine 1981, in Whaley 2011: 190) mourning clothing nevertheless epitomised
rituals, which were markedly similar across classes and clarified that people were
grieving.
Gender
However, Hockey suggests that expectations of mourning dress also revealed a
difference in the oppositional natures of the genders (Hockey 1997: 90). Hockey states
that whilst the expected sensitivity and expressiveness of Victorian women was
privileged in a way that men’s was not, conversely ‘the whole burden of mourning
wrappings seems to have fallen on women’ (Woman’s World magazine 1889, cited by
Hockey 1997: 90, citing Morley 1971: 63). The conventions of female mourning have
been critically evaluated as juxtaposed between being helpful and restricting. Although
15 English spelling.
16 Fumes were given off from the crape.
15
Curl asserts that ‘widows weeds’17 made grief visible while forming a ‘barrier against
unwanted intrusions on private feelings’ (Curl 2004: 200), Jalland and Cannadine
suggest otherwise. They argue that the conspicuousness of mourning from distinctive
clothing, enforced women’s social isolation for at least a year after the death of a
spouse (Jalland 2005: 301), retarding ‘the will to recover’ (Cannadine 1981, in Whaley
2011: 190) and merely ‘asserting status’ (ibid.).
As the Victorian era progressed through to the 1880s, the demand for crape declined
alongside a more common-sense view of ‘making-do’. The relaxation of rigid
conventions places the times as ‘a transitional period in relation to death, grief and
mourning’ (Jalland 2005: 304). Moreover, there is evidence that the strong faith of
many nineteenth-century widows encouraged a greater ability to accept the death
(Jalland 2005: 239) and allowed them to bypass the bereavement stage of ‘anger’, now
accepted as a common stage of grief (Parkes 1972). However, this in no way reduced
the cumulative effects of bereavement. The withdrawal of the main income, coupled
with the loss of a partner, meant that for many women bereavement caused ‘multiple
tragedies which did not diminish, but intensified the distress of loss’ (Strange 2010:
195). It is with the continuing effects from male deaths in mind that Jalland’s second
turning point of change is now addressed: the Great War.
THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
The impact of the Great War should never be under-estimated, for it
transformed the nation, not least its funerary customs. (Curl 2004: 210)
The effects of the First World War18 ‘intensified’ and accelerated the decline in
elaborate mourning rituals (Jalland 2005: 371; Cannadine 1981, in Whaley 2011:
193)19 for the death of individuals; formerly ‘an intrinsic part of the nineteenth century
Christian community’s response to death’ (Jalland 2005: 371). A range of war-time
events instigated change, including: the absence of servicemen’s bodies to bury in
Britain; a national decline in religious belief; and a change in the religious affiliation of
women, some aspects of which I will examine next.
17 ‘Widows’ weeds’ originate from the old-English word ‘waed’ meaning garment.
18 Also known as The Great War, it began on 28th July 1914.
19 Motor-driven hearses, lower death-rate and a request by Edward V11, contributed to less
ostentatiousness (Cannadine 1981, in Whaley 2011: 193).
16
Events instigating change
Absent deaths
On day one of the battle of the Somme, of the 60,000 going ‘over the top’, 30,000
became casualties in the first thirty minutes (Wilkinson 1997: 149). The total of British
casualties was approximately 57,000, a third of whom were killed (Bédarida [1991]
2005: 171). The remoteness of the war’s action from the British public, sustained by
censorship regulators, became a distinctive feature of the First World War (Berridge
2001: 62) and although the newspapers withheld the extent of the death toll abroad,
the shocking reality of war casualties was gradually revealed. As the public became
aware of the mass graves abroad in which the dead and dying servicemen were laid
(Bourke 1999: 215) the similarity to paupers’ funerals was hard to bear (Bourke 1999:
219). The absence of men’s bodies to bury at home instigated one of the greatest
changes in British funeral culture.
The meaning of life and the meaning of death were all but wiped out by the Great
War. (Jalland 2005: 380)
Curl asserts that one reaction to the overwhelming loss of men20, and unpatriated
bodies, was the seemingly inappropriateness of lavish funerals for civilian individuals
(Curl 2004: 210). With so many missing bodies the ‘individuality of death had been
buried under literally millions of corpses’ (Winter 2003, cited by Jalland 2005: 373).
Gone was the possibility of the Evangelical ‘good death’ of the nineteenth century,
inconceivable for war deaths (Strange 2005: 264; Winter 2003, cited by Jalland 2005:
373). The late-Victorian belief in Heavenly reunions persisted and widows needed
reassurance that their men were waiting for them in Heaven, miraculously un-mutilated,
and having avoided ‘eternal punishment of hellfire’ (Jupp and Gittings 1999: 236). An
ineffectual clergy, unable to give plausible explanations for so much death, further
affected the unsettled climate in Britain (Cannadine 2011: 219).
Declining church attendance and women’s beliefs
From disillusionment with the clergy, mainstream church attendance declined, and
according to Bourke (1999) those women whose men had died in battle looked
elsewhere for sympathy (Bourke 1999: 233). They found it in Spiritualism, which
became the domain of women (Brown 2006: 104; Winter 1998: 55) continuing to
increase, and providing evidence of weakened, especially female, conventional
20 Varying figures cited for British servicemen dying in the war include: 722, 785 (Winter, cited
by Jalland 2005: 373) 745,000 (Wilkinson, in Jupp and Howarth 1997: 149).
17
religious belief 21 (Jupp and Gittings 1999: 251; Jalland 2005: 365). After 1916, the
number of Spiritualist societies more than doubled from 158 to 38922 (Jalland 2005:
365; Jupp and Gittings 1999: 251; Wilkinson 1997: 156) transforming the movement
from a leisure pursuit (Jalland 2005: 365) to a religion. Strange notes that Spiritualism
‘enabled [them] to construct a narrative of the dead at peace’ (Strange 2005: 268).
Whilst most churches condemned the ‘craze for spiritualism’ (Brown 2006: 103) some
church leaders recognised that the need for the bereaved to find answers had initiated
an estrangement from inadequate church teaching (Wilkinson 1997: 156). In 1918, this
was acknowledged by the Archdeacon of Aston, who commented that the bereaved
‘crave with unspeakable longing for some definite sign that their departed friends are
still alive’ (Aston 1918, cited by Brown 2006: 104).
Belief in an after-life remained important to the bereaved, despite many mourners
doubting their faith (Jalland 2005: 367), but the Victorian notion of the ‘bad death’
diminished. The war all but removed ‘hell’ from English Christianity (Wilkinson 1997:
155; Walter 1994: 15). To encourage patriotism, enforced repression of grief was
promoted, which impacted on mourning (Wilkinson 1997: 156). The lack of wartime
communal grief greatly influenced mourning customs, leaving many widows with no
support network other than private letters between friends23. The awareness of so
many young, violent deaths, blunted survivors’ emotions and restrained death-talk
(Wilkinson 1997: 156; Jalland 2010: 34). Returning soldiers, numbed by their
experiences, impaired mourning for themselves and their families (Jalland 2010: 34)
and mourning was effectively silenced for over 200,000 dead in England and Wales,
most of whom were aged between twenty and forty (Jalland 2010: 32).
The influenza pandemic
However, despite the political and cultural importance of five years of war, more people
in Britain and globally died from the Spanish influenza pandemic that began in 1918
than from the war itself. Again, censorship attempted to hide the full extent of the death
toll and communities were unaware of the virulence of the disease, the spread of which
was said to have originated in the army (Jalland 2010: 32). However, rather than
dwelling on the deaths, Britain celebrated victory and lengthy outward mourning was
21 The Rise and Fall of British Spiritualism. [online] Available at
https://wiki.leeds.ac.uk/index.php/HIST2530_The_Rise_and_Fall_of_British_Spiritualism
(accessed 24.6.09)
22 ibid.
23 Letters between women were a source of consolation and those of Violet Cecil and Carrie
Kipling are some that show the support network that arose (Jalland 2010:chapter 2).
18
reduced (Jalland 2010: 34) despite many people mourning influenza victims. The
deaths were not fully accepted as ‘war casualties’ until many years later. After the war,
the huge death toll of civilians and servicemen forced unavoidable changes in
mourning rituals. With Britain awash with grief, extravagant funerals seemed contrary
to the prevailing climate, not least because of the reminder to so many of their loss
(Jalland 2005: 380) but also because of the financially bleak future faced by many
widows (Winter 1998: 47). There was ‘a revolutionary simplification of funerals’ (Curl
2004: 209). Consequently, low national morale coupled with the shocking reality of
battle deaths, unexpectedly amplified the initial 1875 requests for funeral reform
(Strange 2005: 264).
Reform
Cremations
Bourke suggests that the ‘language of putrefaction’ (Bourke 1999: 222) attributed to
soldiers dying in trenches, increased support for cremations. The reminder of decaying,
and possibly un-buried bodies abroad (Bourke 1999: 223) increased cremations and
reduced the proportion of burials. Once thought ‘heathen, foreign, un-Christian and
downright unpleasant’ (Curl 2004: 186) cremation advocates based their opinions on
earlier arguments regarding sanitation. The supporters condemned burial as
‘disgusting decay’ (Bourke 1999, cited by Jalland 2010: 103), and demanded that
cremation should be accessible for all, insisting that infected and diseased bodies
would be disposed of ‘at a distance from densely populated areas’ (Hockey, Katz and
Small 2008: 189). However, although support for cremations grew amongst the
professional and upper-middle classes, the working classes remained strongly
disposed towards burial. There were just over one thousand cremations in London in
1914, and in the early 1930s only one per cent of the deceased were cremated (Jalland
2010: 102). It would be another forty-nine years before the cremation rate in England
became fifty per cent (Jalland 2010: 103). As the Great War drew to a close, cremation
reformers supported ‘cremations for all’ with mourners wearing ‘everyday clothes’
(Jalland 1999: 251). The elaborate rituals identifying the Victorian bereaved, belonged
to a pre-war world.
Monuments
Kearl asserts that after the First World War, the worth of individuals in communities
shifted to create a ‘new kind of identity, a new kind of dying, and a new kind of grief’
(Kearl 1989: 46). ‘New mourning’ was exemplified in the national need to erect
monuments, more than at ‘any earlier single historical event’ (Jalland 2005: 380).
19
Cannadine states, that ‘those millions of bereaved wanted some ceremony, some
reassurance that their loved ones were not forgotten and that they had not died in vain’
(Cannadine 2011: 227). Memorials were not to celebrate the war, but to represent the
un-repatriated dead, and the bodies of over 200,000 missing men (Bourke 1999: 229).
Gregory states that the non-denominational Whitehall Cenotaph, erected for Armistice
Day, on 11 November 1919, was for some people more unifying than attending church
(Gregory 1994: 54, cited by Jalland 2010: 61). It provided an opportunity for an
‘unparalleled outpouring of collective emotion’ (Jalland 2010: 61) which had been
constrained through the war and might have remained hidden, were it not for the
climate of the inter-war years.
INTER-WAR YEARS 1918-1939
It is unsurprising that ‘[i] nter-war Britain was probably more obsessed with
death than any other period in modern history.’ (Cannadine 1981: 189, cited by
Wilkinson 1997: 157)
Religion and uncertainty
Inter-war spiritualism
Bourke asserts that shortly after the war in 1920, many families lost hope of ever being
reunited with missing loved ones. The sense of shared, chronic grief prompted the war
padre Railton to recognise a need to provide some sort of public funeral for communal
catharsis (Bourke 1999: 236). Amid calls for more cremations, the coffin of an unknown
warrior was interred in Westminster Abbey, representing all missing dead (Wilkinson
1997: 156). It was somewhere to commemorate and mourn the dead in the way that
bereaved Victorians had visited cemetery memorials. Up to a million visitors in the first
year visited the Unknown Warrior, marking the success of communal ritual mourning
(Bourke 1999: 237). However, alongside the need to reconcile so many deaths, and
providing particular comfort to the women bereaved of sons (Jupp and Gittings 1997:
269), post-war Spiritualism continued in popularity, rising to over 2000 Spiritualist
societies (Jupp and Gittings 1997: 269). Cannadine suggests however, that
Spiritualism served another purpose. Whereas memorials were permanent reminders
of death, the Spiritualists offered the ‘most persuasive case for the denial of death’
(Cannadine 2011: 230) together with hope for reuniting with the dead (ibid.), as they
were remembered.
20
Social problems
As the 1920s progressed, a death-obsessed Britain experienced a series of social
problems. High unemployment and economic recession, in contrast to the economic
prosperity before the war, (Bourke 1999: 233) led to severe hardship24 and uncertainty,
affecting the mood and religiosity of the nation. Despite some success from
Pentecostalism (Brown 2006: 118) Berridge asserts that post-war ‘secularism seeped
into society, steadily spreading as both a style of monumental commemoration and a
way of thinking’ (Berridge 2002: 54). There were no organised communal Cenotaph
prayers, and town memorials were mostly plain tablets of stone without crosses (ibid.).
As economically depressed communities grew, Christian belief declined (Jalland 2010:
102). By 1922, the poorer working classes were increasingly attracted to
Evangelicalism (Brown 2001: 41), emphasising strength through the Word of God.
Inter-war cremations
Jalland confirms the importance of the inter-war years for establishing cremation and
asserts that while ‘the most rapid growth for cremation took place after the Second
World War …important foundations were laid in the inter-war years’ (Jalland 2010:
104). Crematoria numbers grew in England and Wales from twenty-one in 1930, to
fifty-four in 1939 (Jalland 2010: 104) and by 1939, local authorities and poorer families
had begun to accept cremation as economically better than burial, with cremations
rising to almost four per cent of all funerals (Jupp and Gittings 1999: 265). Overall,
1930s Britain experienced ‘a fourfold increase in cremation’ (Jalland 2010: 104) and
although support was still predominantly middle and upper class (Jalland ibid.), dead
bodies could now be dispensed with swiftly, rather than decomposing in homes. With
much mourning still widespread, Britain entered the next war, which was to have long-
lasting effects on bereavement and mourning.
SECOND WORLD WAR 1939-1945
If the First World War had a cataclysmic impact on British attitudes to death, the
Second World War also influenced the course of the modern way of death, but
it did so in a different way. (Berridge 2002: 57)
24 Brown comments on the plight of fishing communities suffering declining catches; the
hardship in industrial cities (due to strike action) from a decline in post-war heavy
manufacturing; and cotton production ‘in adverse world trading’ (Brown 2006: 117)
21
Unlike the First World War, the Second World War25 was expected. Whilst the First
World War altered the romance of war death, Second World War communities
encountered the additional fear of civilian death from bombing. In London and industrial
towns particularly, there was first-hand knowledge of civilian death and air-raid
destruction and again, grieving was put aside to sustain morale. However, while
Churchill’s speeches demonstrated that Britain was expected to rise to a national
identity of bravery and stoicism, civilians did not necessarily feel stoic (Jalland 2010:
122).
Civilians
Myth of the Blitz
Calder states that for years after the war, as far as 1961, a myth existed to ensure
survival in the face of trauma. Calder (1991) argues that a myth persisted amongst the
public that the war communities were heroic, good-humoured and willingly altruistic
(Calder 1991, cited by Jalland 2010: 122) whereas in reality, it was a very different
‘people’s war’ (Jalland 2010: 122). Jalland agrees, stating that whilst the ‘stiff upper lip’
of the 1930s continued to pervade society irrespective of class and gender, once the
reality of death and grief emerged the devastation had to be minimised to conceal the
horror and retain optimism (Jalland 2010: 124). Burnt bodies made fragmentary by the
force of blasts were collected for burial, some too unrecognisable to be buried
individually. Mass burials were of equal concern for London (Jalland 2010: 129) and
Coventry (Jalland 2010: 124), both of which were badly bombed and suffered mass
graves for incomplete bodies.
Although post-war consensual memory helped increase morale, mourners were
expected to repress and internalise their grief. Church leaders perpetuated the myth of
the Blitz and urged the bereaved of Coventry to ‘try not dwell on their horrific loss’
(Jalland 2010: 124). The full-scale of mass burial was again quashed by wartime
censorship. Jalland argues that the ‘myth of the Blitz played a significant role in the
history of death and grief in twentieth-century England’ (Jalland 2010: 123). Arguably,
the need for emotional restraint during the world wars affected mourning in Britain with
women particularly suffering from the enforced silence (Jalland 2010: 158).
25 War began on 3rd September 1939.
22
Post-war mourning
Jalland summarises post-war changes in mourning: after the Great War, the emphasis
was on remembrance; after the Second World War, the emphasis was on forgetting
(Jalland 2010: 179). Equally, individual memorials in churches ‘were discouraged as
contrary to the war’s communal spirit’ (Wilkinson 1997: 161). Rather than erect new
memorials, war-dead names were added to existing Great War monuments, and the
change in attitude towards commemorating the dead nationally exemplified how quickly
British attitudes to mourning had altered in less than thirty years. For some mourners,
Christianity still offered religious consolation and was hoped to be ‘holding the nation
together’ (Brown 2006: 164), however, Wolffe argues that although religion still
contributed to ‘a tightly-disciplined sense of national identity… by the 1940s [this] was
in decay’ (Wolffe 1994, cited by Brown 2006: 13). It is for good reason that social and
religious influences are examined when attempting to quantify and explain changes in
attitudes and values and with this in mind, I now turn to the effects on mourning of the
post-war years, and secularisation.
1950s, 1960s
It is difficult to appreciate today how widespread and deep-rooted was the
ignorance, silence, and embarrassment about grief in the 1950s and 1960s.
(Jalland 2010: 235)
Beginning in the inter-war years and becoming more commonplace in 1950s Europe,
there is evidence that in England emotions regarding death after the wars were more
‘muted’ (Jalland 2010: 183; Cannadine 1981: 230). It is therefore conceivable that an
embarrassed silence about grief enveloped the rest of Britain, however, with over six
hundred thousand widows under sixty years of age estimated to be living in England
and Wales in 1951 (Jalland 2010: 199), prevailing ignorance was less
understandable26. Nonetheless, psychiatrists had not yet explored bereavement effects
in other than clinical patients27 (ibid.: 202) and many mourners had no outside help
dealing with the implications of loss. At one time, the church would have provided a
26 It was not until 1969 that Kũbler-Ross wrote the landmark book On Death and Dying, outlining
grief stages.
27 Peter Marris’s (1958) empirical study of widows was a landmark deviation from exploring the
effects of grief on clinical patients and studying instead, ordinary people (Ibid 202).
23
listening ear, however, an area arguably difficult to chart, but relevant to a historical
trajectory of British culture and its effect on mourning, is that of secularisation.
Religion and secularisation
[T]he secularisation of the inter-war years started the reforms that impacted on
the 1960s. (Haste (1992) and Machin (1998), cited by McLeod 2007: 220)
McLeod, in discussing the roots of secularised Britain, agrees with Haste(1992) and
Machin(1998) and highlights how the 1950s and 1960s witnessed big changes in
society despite many of the reforms having started earlier (Mcleod 2007: 220). After the
war, a new welfare state and social improvement were needed. Consequently, a
Labour government sought to achieve a string of social reforms and to repeal or modify
laws concerning amongst others, blasphemy, male homosexuality,28 film and theatre
censorship, capital punishment and abortion. It was only after 1950 that people
stopped absorbing the religious identities previously generated for them and it was
‘only when that discursive power waned that secularisation could take place’ (Brown
2001: 175). In a changing society, institutionalised belief was usurped by private
individual belief, no longer reliant on church attendance, church control or community.
Brown asserts that in the 1960s, religion started to stop mattering (Brown 2001: 7) and
other forces became important enough to seriously threaten Christianity, its affiliated
values and the overall effect on bereavement.
By 1963, church attendance showed ‘the steepest peacetime decline of the century’
(Brown 2006: 215). The publishing of the controversial book Honest to God by
Robinson, the Bishop of Woolwich, challenged previously established traditions and
contributed to making 1963 a turning point in a cultural revolution (Brown 2006: 225).
This preceded a legislative revolution during 1959-69 (McLeod 2007: 218) prompting
an upheaval in morals on a scale unforeseen by the innovators, and counter-attacked
by amongst others, Mary Whitehouse29. Undoubtedly, traditional values were under
attack (Marr 2009: 261). The beginning of a pop culture, influenced by groups like The
Beatles (Brown 2006: 225), separated many teenagers’ ideals from their parents’
values. It was the main catalyst for changes in cultural attitudes, and a more dominant
influence on society than either social class or gender (Marwick 1998, cited by McLeod
28 In Scotland the law on homosexuality was not reformed at this time.
29 Mrs. Whitehouse had strong Christian principles and sought to redress the balance with her
‘Clean Up TV’ campaign making her ‘a major national figure who spoke for millions’ (Marr 2009:
261).
24
2007: 14). The relaxing of older social customs and influences affected traditional
family life. Moreover women, many of whom had worked during the war, sought
employment outside of the home (Marr 2009: 266) threatening conventional family
expectations.
The mainstream church perception of women as conventional home makers (Brown
2001: 179) was severely challenged by cultural traditionalism as the number of mothers
in paid employment gradually rose. Of those who were thirty years old in the 1930s,
thirty per cent were now working, compared with thirty- four per cent of women who
were thirty in the 1950s30. Whereas women had largely been responsible for ‘passing
on religious beliefs and practices to a younger generation’ (McLeod 2007: 171, citing
Brown 2001), their interest in ensuring families attended church competed with
changes in consciousness generated by feminism and personal ambitions. With less
free time, women’s focus on church reduced as the Women’s Liberation Movement
increased (McLeod 2007: 175). Although the actual feminist movement was in its
infancy, the earlier suffragette movement had already encouraged reformation of
women’s identities, affecting family life and cultural values such as ‘churching’31
mothers (Mcleod 2007: 109).
Gorer’s informative study (1965) deduced that death had not become forgotten post-
war, as asserted by Jalland above, but that within Britain it had become ‘tabooed,
suppressed and unmentionable – almost obscene’ (Dollimore 2005: 120). As
discussed, a deficit of death talk was attributed to a loss of Christian belief, church
attendance and prayer, confirming a connection between the ‘shift in taboos and the
shift in religious beliefs’ (Gorer [1965] 1977: 196). There was a prudery relating to
death-talk, defined by Gorer as an ‘aspect of human experience …treated as inherently
shameful or abhorrent…never discussed …openly’ (Gorer 1977: 194). Gorer’s 1960s
research revealed that ‘traditionally, religion is held to offer consolations for the grief of
bereavement’ and he concluded that even with secularisation ‘[i]t is very rare indeed in
Britain for a dead body to be disposed of without benefit of clergy’ (Gorer 1977: 19).
Out of a sample of three hundred and fifty-nine funerals, only two were non-
denominational (Gorer: ibid.).
30 Source: British Household Panel Survey, Institute for Social and Economic Research, Office
National Statistics, fig. 4:1. (Matheson and Summerfield (Eds.) Social Trends 2000: 71
31 A ritual blessing at church for new (married) mothers.
25
AFTER THE 1960s
Approaches to death
However, the continuation of church funerals had no influence on reduced mourning
rituals and communities no longer received guidance in how to support bereaved
neighbours, especially male ones. Gorer states that ‘nowhere is the absence of an
accepted social ritual more noticeable than in the first contacts between a mourner and
his neighbours, acquaintances or workmates after a bereavement’ (Gorer 1977: 57). It
remained obvious that there was no specific outlet for male bereavement, and that this
problem was possibly hampered by the emotional restraint practised by many men
(Walter 1994, cited by Jalland 2010: 253). This contrasted with female tendency for
emotional expressiveness (Jalland: ibid.), which found a channel of expression through
an increase in the 1970s, middle-class female work force (Jupp and Gittings 1999:
275). Small communities of empathetic listeners provided a moving away from the
‘behind-closed-doors’ Victorian female grieving and post-wars lonely, stifled grief. It
was, however, still fundamentally more private than public. The 1970s social changes
and the expansion of Cruse32 the bereavement counselling movement, also showed
that emotions could be worked through without church support.
Death denial and invisible death
Becker (1973) asserts that by this time, Britain had moved towards a ‘denial of death’.
Although the fields of social sciences and medicine were exploring the effects on the
bereaved of death and dying (Marris 1958; Bowlby 1961; Glaser and Strauss 1965;
1968; Kubler-Ross 1969; and Becker 1973), such matters were gender stereotypical
and not discussed commonly. Research contrasting grieving in widowers with that of
widows was unavailable, resulting in a ‘psychiatrised’ and feminised model of
bereavement (Field, Hockey and Small 1997: 96) inspired by psychiatrists such as
Parkes (1972) (Field, Hockey and Small 1997: 97). Culturally, little progress was made
for openly discussing grief with neighbours, which contributed to the climate of
‘embarrassed denial,’ particularly for men. Kellehear(1984) supports Gorer’s earlier
premise on the absence of social ritual for bereavement, clarifying that ‘for most social
actors the fear of offending is situationally greater than the fear of mentioning death or
expressing grief’ (Kellehear 1984: 720).
By 1981, changed attitudes to death prompted Ariès’ assertion that death had become
‘invisible’ (Ariès 1981) with Britain assuming the existence of a ‘taboo of death’. This
32 Cruse was founded in 1959 and derives its name from the biblical Old Testament story of the
widow of Zarephath’s cruse (jar) of oil that never runs out (1 Kings 17: 8-24).
26
social construct is still popularly perceived to exist. An alternative view, however, is that
far from ‘denial of death’ and ‘invisible death’ there has been a more recent increase in
death awareness, albeit for tragic ‘bad deaths’. For this reason ‘media death’, its effect
on mourning, and the posited ‘revival of death’ (Walter 1994) is now discussed.
Reasons for taboo
Overcrowding
Since war atrocities had recently preceded his research, Gorer was probably justified in
his theory that ‘natural death and physical decomposition’ had become ‘too horrible to
contemplate or to discuss’ (Gorer 1977: 196). However, further reticence in people’s
willingness to discuss death could have come from the domestic problems with caring
for dying relatives at home. A significant report by the Marie Curie Foundation (1952)
investigating over seven thousand cases of cancer patients dying at home, found many
suffering in conditions of ‘gross overcrowding’ (Marie Curie Foundation cited by Jalland
2010: 186). The situation is confirmed by Parkes (Parkes 1972, cited by Jalland 2010:
185) and Hinton(1967), who also catalogues different generations sharing bedrooms
with dying relatives amidst poor sanitation (Hinton 1967: 152). Despite planned inter-
war house building (Dewey 1997: 175) there was widespread sharing of bathrooms in
most working class areas (Hinton 1967: 152)33 and an estimated shortage of 479,000
houses in England and Wales by 1931 (Dewey 1997: 172). All factors could have
contributed to families being so close to the dying that they developed distaste for
discussing death.
Death-discussing culture
However, despite more recent suggestion that a taboo of death is culturally
established, 34 as we approach the present time there are growing contradictions that
suggest it might not be so entrenched. Notwithstanding Gorer’s study and Ariès’ later
assertion that for ordinary people, society had ‘banished death’ (Ariès 1981: 560),
Michael Simpson ([1979]: 1987) in his bibliography of thanatology and terminal care,
disagrees that death is taboo. He claims with irony that ‘death is a badly kept secret’,
and quips that it is so unmentionable and taboo ‘that there are over 750 books now in
print asserting that we are ignoring the subject’ (Simpson [1979]: v11). By 1987,
Simpson had listed over 1700 titles relating to death, which he refers to as proof of a
33 The Overcrowding Survey for England and Wales (1936) records overcrowding on council
estates (Cited by Dewey 1997: 177).
34 ‘The whole idea of planning and talking about death remains something of a taboo in the UK
Abi Berger of the British Medical Council, stated that the ‘whole idea of planning and talking
about death remains something of a taboo in the UK’. (April 2006).
27
death-discussing culture. However, this is too simplistic, and providing books about
death does not characterise a death-discussing culture amongst the lay public.
Dollimore further argues that to even contrast death as either taboo, or no longer
taboo, lacks complexity (Dollimore 1998: 26). Noys (2005) expands this point and
suggests that the argument for whether or not death is taboo in modern culture
disregards the composite ways in which death is simultaneously invisible and ‘highly
visible’ (Noys 2005: 3).
It is likely that as improving health care in Britain throughout the twentieth century
reduced natural death rates, particularly among younger people (Gorer 1977: 197), so
death in the community became less visible (Noys 2005: 3) and less discussed.
However, further discrepancy in the visibility of death emanates from categorising
death as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Bad deaths are characteristically the ones most heard about;
most visible. They are not ‘natural deaths’, but rather unplanned, and possibly without
pain-relief. Bradbury defines them as happening ‘at the wrong place at the wrong time’
(Bradbury 2000, in Dickenson, Johnson and Katz 2000: 59).
Visible death and the media effect
Furthermore, visible deaths, including road-traffic accidents, suicides or infant deaths,
often attract media attention. The deaths from the Hillsborough football stadium
disaster (1989) and the deaths of Princess Diana (1997) and Baby ‘P’ 35 (2008), still
make headline news and are memorable examples of ‘bad’ or untimely deaths. Far
from making death taboo, the public is drawn to discussing such deaths with shared
intrigue and possibly shared mourning.
A smaller proportion of the population of contemporary Western societies dies
in any one day than in any society at any time in the history of humankind, yet
through the news media death is now extremely visible. (Walter et al 2000: 17)
Although not evidence of a death-discussing culture, this reveals one in which visible
death is the death of ‘strangers’36. These deaths collectively remind the living of the
tenuousness of life, and affirm what Canetti (1973) calls a ‘survival mode’ in which
35 Baby’ P’ was abused and died from extensive injuries inflicted on him by his parents in
London in 2007.
36 There were estimated to be over a million bouquets left at the palace and over 136 000
mourners wanting to sign the condolences book.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/stories/Palacepeople/princessdiana/diana
(accessed 17.9.13)
28
other people’s deaths makes us feel successful that we are alive (Canetti 1973, cited
by Field, Hockey and Small 1997: 215). Undoubtedly, British culture37 discusses such
highly visible deaths with less fear of offending others.
Medicalisation
Alongside this media view of ‘bad death’, medicalisation creates further ‘radical
changes in the visibility of death’ (Jalland 1996, cited by Jupp and Gittings 1999: 278).
Whereas the Victorians synonymised ‘good death’ with Christian religious faith, a belief
challenged by some recent cultural values; Cannadine suggests that more
contemporary diminished belief in ‘the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting’
(Cannadine 2011: 238) has made the contemplation of death correspondingly terrifying
and lonely, possibly encouraging taboo. A recent report by Age UK (Payne 2015)38
found that the elderly consider ‘good quality death’ to be pain free, with dignity, in sleep
and without knowledge of imminent death (Payne 2015). Many elderly people,
irrespective of religious faith, now clearly view medicalisation as synonymous with
‘good death’39. Cannadine confirms that in Britain, the opportunity to die ‘as painlessly
as possible with the minimum of fuss’ is now widespread (Cannadine1981, in Whaley
2011: 239), however, whereas a home death might be preferred, once death is
imminent the dying are often transferred from their community (Hockey, Katz and Small
2008: 193), into hospitals (Kellehear 1990, cited by Hockey, Katz and Small 2008: 190)
where the carers administering palliative drugs are (necessarily) medical staff.
Invisible death
Thorpe suggests that by isolating the dying, and segregating them into hospital where
they are invisible to families, accepting mortality can be hindered (Thorpe 1993, cited
by Zimmerman and Rodin 2004: 125). However, notwithstanding exceptions, families
are less expected to care for dying relatives (and arguably less available to do so due
to paid work commitments) especially the old, the terminally ill and Alzheimer’s
sufferers (Jalland 1996, cited by Jupp and Gittings 1999: 278); reaffirming hidden death
and inducing a ‘stigmatization of death’ (Hockey, Katz and Small 2001: 190).
Additionally, whereas corpses would have been in open coffins for viewing, the infirm
who die at home are now excluded ‘as rapidly as possible to be buried or cremated’
37 Other religions in Britain notwithstanding.
38 Age UK (2015) [online] Available at http://www.ageuk.org.uk/professional-resources-
home/knowledge-hub-evidence-statistics/debates-on-ageing/dying-at-home/ (accessed
5.6.15)
39 Although other world religions may differ from this definition, attitudes towards Christian
deaths form the argument here.
29
(Noys 2005: 25). The removal of bodies psychologically distances mourners from
death; a situation Worden suggests can cause problems in grief resolution (Worden
1991, cited by Hockey, Katz and Small 2001: 194). Whilst it could be argued that this
change merely echoes previous generations’ sanitation concerns, the dying are
nonetheless effectively hidden and ultimately ‘invisible’.
‘The Order of the Good Death’
It is in this context that the Los Angeles-based mortician, Doughty, has formed The
Order of the Good Death. Doughty asserts that ‘engaging with the corpse is good for
us, mentally and emotionally’ and she states that the corpse being removed from our
culture is to ‘the detriment of our relationship with death’ (Walker: May 2013)40. In
Western society, what is considered ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable,’ informs where and how
we die and are disposed of. The prevailing expectation in Britain41 is that the dead will
be taken to an undertaker’s morgue until they are placed in a coffin, a situation
exemplifying death-invisibility, strongly disapproved of by Doughty (Doughty, Order of
the Good Death [online]).42
…we take those expensive caskets and bury them with a concrete or metal
burial vault surrounding them, another layer of protection. Then it’s only a
matter of a gravestone, like a cherry atop the death denial sundae. (Doughty,
Order of the Good Death).43
For both Doughty(2011) and Gorer(1977), what matters most is not that the corpse is
engaged with, but who engages with it, and where. Doughty and Gorer consider there
to be cultural death-denial (Gorer 1977: 196) in using a funeral director unknown to the
deceased. The Order of the Good Death (The Order) was formed in 2011 to ‘prepare a
death-phobic culture for their inevitable mortality’ 44. The Order shows on its web pages
how to care for the dead at home and how to embrace and celebrate death rather than
fear and hide it. However, not all deaths are so manageable for relatives, and whereas
Gorer congregates all deaths, irrespective of type, stating that ‘the art of the embalmers
is an act of complete denial’ (Gorer 1977: 196), Bradbury(2000) differentiates between
40 The Independent, (25.5.2013). [online] Available at
http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/independent-uk#.VW3KGEsfods (accessed 2.6.15)
41 Notwithstanding religious cultural differences.
42 Doughty [online] available at http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/naturalburial (accessed
4.9.13)
43 Ibid.
44 Mission Statement of the Order of the Good Death [online] Available at
http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/category/mission (accessed 3.9.13)
30
denial of death itself and denial of ‘bad death’ with further discrimination between
damaged and undamaged corpses. Bradbury suggests that funeral directors try to hide
from families evidence of violent, or ‘bad deaths’ or mutilation (Bradbury 2000, in
Dickenson, Johnson and Katz 2000: 62).
This response could be acknowledged as caring and understandable, rather than
denial. Moreover, it is perhaps as naive to accept Gorer’s blanket approach,
aggregating the treatment of all deaths as evidence of ‘death-denial’, as it is to assume
with Doughty and Gorer, that strangers concealing a corpse within a coffin makes the
death feels less ‘real’ to the bereaved than personally laying them out. However,
dealings with the dead are now mostly decided, and managed by, experts, and it is
evidence of the endurance of the professionalisation of death that began in the
nineteenth century, and emphasises ‘who has possession over the body’ (Walter 1994,
cited by Hockey, Katz and Small 2001: 194)
Death impact
Infant death
The differences in impact between child death and elderly death, and the likelihood that
many old people will be institutionalised to die, can be premised not only on the
scenario of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ but also on the effectiveness of reduced social
importance. Blauner (1966) notes that death impact on society is reduced if the social
importance of those dying is equally reduced (Blauner 1966, cited by Walter 1994: 50).
Thus with relatively few infants now dying45; infant death has greater societal impact
than elderly death, and is more shocking from its untimeliness and the loss of future
hope. For the UK as a whole in 2013, declining infant mortality figures recently
recorded only four infant deaths in every one thousand live births, and lower still at 3.8
deaths per thousand, in England and Wales 46 47. Conversely, elderly death is less
culturally significant, both because it is expected, and because those most likely to die
are perceived as having the least to offer, making them less economically valuable.
Attitudes towards the elderly can also be aligned with cultural unease with ageing. Old
45 ONS (28 February 2014) Infant Mortality Rate in England and Wales Hits Record Low.
[online] Available at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/child-mortality-statistics--childhood--
infant-and-perinatal/2012/sty-imr.html (accessed 4.6.15).
46 ONS (10 March 2015) Childhood, Infant and PerI-natal Mortality in England and Wales 2013.
[online] Available at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/child-mortality-statistics--childhood--
infant-and-perinatal/2013/stb-child-mortality-stats-2013.html (accessed 4.10.15)
47 Mortality Rate Infant (for every 1000 live births before one year of age) [online] Available at
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN(accessed 4.10.15).
31
people can remind us of death and can therefore become marginalised by the young,
although this is not a concept that young children necessarily recognise.48
Ageing and death
Whilst camouflaging bad deaths can be seen as disengagement with death, Kearl
suggests that ‘the same denial system … allows the cosmetics industry to flourish: by
dying grey hair and having face-lifts we can hide our ageing, hence our deaths’ (Kearl
1989: 125), or at least, our progress towards death. Recent research at the Centre for
Appearance (CAR)49 states that many elderly women are anxious about body image
(Wiseman 2012)50. Aspects of death-denial can therefore be linked to ageism and in
Britain, the low cultural value given to the elderly, particularly the elderly infirm (Mulkay
and Ernst 1991, cited by Walter 1994: 51). For many old people, fear of dying can be
paralleled with the ‘living death’ of being infirm and elderly. Old-age can represent ‘fear
of being as dependent as a young child while not being loved as a child is loved but
merely being kept alive against one’s will’ (Cowley 1980, cited by Kearl 1989: 125).
Arguably, many lonely old people endure social-death long before physical death
occurs (Mulkay and Ernst 1991, cited by Walter 1994: 51).
However, whereas fear of death and institutionalising the dying can cause death denial
in the remainder of society, Kellehear argues conversely that avoiding any talk of death
is more from ‘fear of the dying process’ (Kellehear 1984: 714) and that to catalogue all
avoidance of death talk as ‘death denial’ ignores those who fear not death, but how
they will die (Kellehear 1984: 714). Dying alone and unloved is possibly more worrying
for the elderly that dying hidden in hospital. An opposing view on ‘hidden deaths’
comes from Walter (1994) who questions the supposed death taboo in the Western
world and suggests a recent choice-driven ‘revival of death’ in Western societies
(Walter 1990, and especially ch.20 in Walter 1994: 175) whereby death is discussed
openly. It is to some elements of Walter’s revivalist theory that I now turn.
Revival of death
Walter suggests that death-talk with coroners and hospitals encourages the privacy, or
hiddenness, of personal death and bereavement experiences, and that the ‘revival’
springs from the need to repair the incompatibility (Walter 1994: 24) by making the
experience more open. Walter further divides the revival into two strands: late-modern,
48 This in no way suggests that other cultures in Britain comply with this practice.
49 CAR is at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
50 Wiseman The Observer (10.6.2012)
32
and post-modern. Late-modern medical and psychological experts seek ’to replace
medical control over death with a more psychological approach’ (Àrnason and
Hafsteinsson (2003: 45). Key influences include Kűbler-Ross (1969), Bowlby (1980)
and Murray-Parkes (1972) all of whom helped either terminally ill or bereaved people to
move through prescribed grief-stages to resolution. The contrasting post-modern
strand celebrates free expression, and is driven by ‘ordinary people, the dying and the
grieving themselves’ (Àrnason and Hafsteinsson (2003: 46). Expert-led decisions and
reliance on mourning stages and processes are rejected to allow individualism in death
and bereavement, demanding that people be ‘allowed to die and grieve in their own
ways and express their emotions as they see fit’ (ibid.). However, there is cause to
suggest that it is a restricted freedom in so much as certain ‘embarrassing’ behaviours,
such as showing excessive grief, might not be tolerated by crematoria staff or
welcomed by mourners51.
Whereas The Order of the Good Death appears to correspond with individualism,
likewise, in Britain, the Natural Death Centre (NDC)52 publishes a list of ‘funeral myths’
detailing how easy it is to personalise funerals53. A help-line assists mourners to direct
an individual funeral without ‘professionals’54. Similarly, whilst not advocating any type
of funeral, The Good Funeral Guide sets out how ‘DIY’55 funerals can be achieved,
claiming: ‘Some will express amazement that you want to do it all yourself, some may
try to dissuade you, some will disapprove and some will try to stand in your way’
(Cowling 2015).56 Nonetheless, whilst corpses are rarely now retained for viewing in
the home by British families57, it is debatable whether anyone other than crematoria
staff would choose to personally cremate bodies. Moreover, despite fixed funeral costs
rising by sixty-seven per cent since 2007 (National Association of Funeral Directors,
NAFD) 58 there is still an expectation that funerals will be organised by professionals.
Hockey argues that ‘we cannot ignore evidence that [people] appreciate expert help’
51 This might not be the case in certain cultures within Britain.
52 Established 1991
53 http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/index.php?page=trying-to-make-sense-of-grief (accessed
5.9.13)
54 Professionals are trustees.
55 Do it yourself.
56 The Good Funeral Guide. [online] Available at http://www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/find-a-
funeral-director/do-it-all-yourself/ (accessed 5.6.15)
57 Notwithstanding religions other than Christian.
58 Average increase of costs is now 67 per cent. (NAFD) [online] Available at
http://www.nafd.org.uk/funeral-profession/news/news-archive/funeral-directors-contain-
prices-and-deliver-added-value.aspx (accessed 5.6.15)
33
(Hockey, Katz and Small 2008: 193). Perhaps individualism stretches to deciding the
need for professional intervention, and personally choosing funeral music.
CHAPTER CONCLUSION
The higher rates of death and the higher likelihood of home deaths in the nineteenth
century allowed a greater awareness of death amongst children. Victorian widows have
been shown as more accepting and less angry at their loss, despite being as
overwhelmed by grief as any widow today. Victorian certainty that a ‘good death’ was
only possible for those dying at peace with the Christian God bears little relation to a
twenty-first century medicalised ‘good death’. Furthermore, on the whole, Christian
religious practice no longer defines an unprepared-for death as a ‘bad death’. It is
defined mostly by cause of death and the bodily appearance of the deceased. A
gradual lack of prescribed mourning ritual seems to have affected communal
recognition of bereavement59, and now allows little opportunity for the bereaved to
receive shared sympathy and understanding. Although Victorian rituals have been
criticised for their unhealthy and socially segregating effects on women, nevertheless,
they acknowledged the time needed to heal grief and provided community support. The
effects of world wars and stifled mourning contributed to huge changes in the ability to
accept death as God’s will. Furthermore, the effects of secularisation amongst the
white ‘British-heritage’ population have contributed to reduced church attendance,
which could have partly eradicated the support once available and altered responses to
death.
Conversely, Àrnason and Hafsteinsson argue that the ‘revival of death’ has
simultaneously allowed people to die and grieve in their own way, but removed their
support network. However, the possibility that a revival of death through individualism
is challenging the perceived taboo of death, could be considered in the light of recent
Church of England Synod discussions to allow funerals for suicide cases and for them
to be openly buried in consecrated ground60. Once considered a ‘bad death’ (Bradbury
2000) the decision promotes the chance of success for the recently failed ‘Assisted
Dying’ bill. This bill is supported by pressure groups such as Dignity in Dying61 but
opposed by many Church Peers and the British Medical Association (BMA) who argue
59 Except in ethnic minority groups.
60 Gledhill (12 February 2015) Christian Today [online] Available at
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/suicides.can.receive.anglican.funerals.says.general.synod/
47997.htm (accessed 11.6.15)
61 BBC News, (7.5.13) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22432308 (accessed 22.10.13)
34
that palliative care already provides a dignified ending62. They might agree with Curl,
who maintains that the invisibility of death has made death insignificant and that death
denial has cheapened life (Curl 2004: 193). Who has control over a body, when dying
or dead, remains controversial. The following statement is less so:
The right to ‘a good death’ should be fundamental. We believe that
social attitudes are part of the problem, and that a willingness to be
open about death will facilitate better communication and ultimately
better provision. (Department of Health, Section 6, paragraph 135, July 2004)63
To understand better the reasons for a lack of openness and to explore the possible
effects of bereavement on both children and adults, I will now discuss some of the
psychological theories that have informed cultural attitudes to discussing death and
loss.
62 http://bma.org.uk/practical-support-at-work/ethics/bma-policy-assisted-dying (accessed
21.10.13)
63 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhealth/454/454.pdf
(accessed 24.10.13)
35
LITERATURE REVIEW Part Two
Chapter 2
ATTACHMENT AND LOSS
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
The above trajectory of death and dying explores the possibility that historical incidents
have affected cultural perception of death and mourning and that a ‘denial of death’
now exists in Britain. The present lack of prescribed mourning rituals, and the deficit of
community support for helping the bereaved adapt and move on, can be seen as
evidence for that denial. Insufficient external support for bereavement has also been
discussed above in relation to Gorer’s[1965] (1977) study of condolences, and the
effects on Britain of post-war changes, secularisation and medicalisation.
Thanatologists, historians and psychologists including Ariès (1981), Worden (1986)
and Parkes (2006) have added their voices to discussing the problems thought to be
associated with unsupported grief. However, Lendrum and Syme (1992), with
reference to Parkes (2006), emphasise internal resources are as necessary for grief
resolution as external support. They state that:
when a person with either insufficient external support and/ or internal
resources suffers a major loss through death or separation…the grieving
process may well be incomplete or even blocked. (Lendrum and Syme
(1992: 38)
The theoretical and empirical research exploring the importance of initial attachments,
and the contribution of secure attachments to healthy internal support, adds to that
body of research and is examined in this chapter. The significant contribution made by
psychodynamic research to the literature of attachment and loss is discussed with
reference to Freud, Klein, Bowlby and Winnicott. It is further suggested that cultural
death-denial, particularly apparent through embarrassed denial, excludes many
children from participating in family death rituals and perpetuates the culture64 of
unease with death. However, as schools are required to cope with children troubled by
many losses, the effect on children of losses other than death, and the possible
consequences of mis-management of those children necessitates some mention.
Included below is a section exploring the effects on children of parental divorce and
64 British Christian and secular culture
36
imprisonment. Holland defines loss as ‘any change that impacts so greatly as to
overwhelm us and be problematic’ (Holland 2001: 19) and whilst the practical problems
from divorce and imprisonment can seem to mainly affect adults, the loss of a home,
income and life-style can generate significant losses for children. The cumulative
effects of dramatic change, which can result from both these situations, have the
potential to impact greatly on children’s lives. This suggestion will be explored more
fully in this chapter. Furthermore, although schools are relatively used to children of
divorce, they are not necessarily familiar with the effects of loss on prisoners’ children.
This is possibly due to the stigma attached to imprisonment, which makes it a subject
parents do not discuss.
The discussion will add questions to those arising from chapter one, which are
addressed in the chapter findings to follow. To enable a better understanding of the
impact of loss on adults and children, I begin by exploring the research on attachment
theory and its influence on understanding the effects of loss. The significance of the
direct correlation between secure infant attachment and how those children, when
adults, manage stressful situations such as bereavement (Siegel 1999; Simos 1979;
Black and Young 1995) will be explored with reference to the work of Freud, Klein and
Bowlby, and the slightly more recent and influential work of Winnicott.
ATTACHMENT
It is difficult to comprehend the impact of separation on any child without
knowledge of child development and attachment theory. (Aldgate 1988, cited by
Kroll 1998)
This inter-disciplinary thesis upholds Aldgates’ statement, however, the literature
reviewed reveals that empirical psychoanalysts have mainly examined the maternal
relationship with babies (Spitz 1945; 1965, in Fonagy 2001: 55) or a series of mother
figures (Schaffer and Emerson 1964). The attachment role of fathers has only recently
been studied in detail (Main and Weston 1981; Fox, Kimmerly and Schafer 199165) and
therefore, notwithstanding the value of the paternal role, the main discussion will focus
on maternal attachments, beginning with the work of Freud.
65 Fox, Kimmerly and Schafer (1991) concluded that a child with a secure attachment to the
mother was more likely to have a secure attachment with the father, although 31 per cent of
children had a secure attachment with only one parent, the potential for a secure attachment
with both emanates from one already secure attachment (Daniel and Taylor 2001: 77).
37
Key thinkers
Freud
Although Freud’s work was theoretical and not empirical, nonetheless, his work was
extremely influential and opened up study and speculation about the workings of the
mind. Silverman asserts that many contemporary psychological theories are based on
the work of Freud (Freud 1961, cited by Silverman 2000: 18) and were founded on the
baby’s need for food-gratification. They influenced psychologists to agree the
importance to the infant of the mother (Klein 1959; Bowlby 1979; McDougall 1989).
Freud recognised the maternal bond as ‘unique, without parallel, established
unalterably for a whole lifetime as the first and strongest love-object and as the
prototype of all later love relations’ (Freud 1938: 188). Freud stresses that without
secure, internal attachment with the mother, any childhood grief can potentially
continue into adulthood, causing unresolved psychiatric problems (Fonagy 2001: 16).
Freud also initially related successful grief-work from mourning to the ability to
emotionally detach oneself from the deceased66 in order to form new attachments
(Silverman and Klass 1996, cited by Silverman 2000: 18) by re-investing that emotional
energy in another person(Strada 2013: 16) .
However, Freud realised from his own later bereavements that despite ‘normal’ life
recurring, such detachment was not necessarily possible (Silverman and Klass 1996,
cited by Silverman 2000: 18). Significant to later theories on grief-work was Freud’s
ground-breaking essay On Mourning and Melancholia (1917)67 written during the First
World War, which details the painful process of withdrawing emotional attachment from
the loved object. Based on Freudian ideas, but diverging from them, Klein formed the
theory of Object-Relations, which influenced later theories of attachment.
Klein
Whilst Klein(1940) agrees that interpersonal attachment between a baby and its parent,
in which a secure attachment is formed, is essential to resolving future bereavements,
Klein’s reasons for attachment differ from Freud’s original premise. Although for Klein,
the security of attachment remains crucial to psychiatric stability and the management
of future loss, Klein lays greater emphasis on the child’s dependency on the object of
the breast. This represents not only food, but also comfort and social interaction,
coupled with both good and bad experiences (Likierman 2002: 55). Having successfully
internalised the mother through its needs being met, the infant maternal relationship
66 Also known as breaking of affectional bonds (Archer 1999: 251).
67 Although begun in 1915, the work was not published until 1917.
38
becomes healthy and secure. Klein refines the process of secure attachment further by
exploring the baby’s ability to separate the breast itself from the whole mother 68 (Klein
1940, cited by Mitchell 1986: 116), and the separation of the ‘good’ mother from the
‘bad’ mother. Thus, the ‘good’ mother is not only available to feed from (good breast)
but also offers comfort, and the ‘bad’ mother’ (bad breast) is momentarily lost to the
infant even if the whole mother remains (Klein 1940, cited by Mitchell 1986: 165). This
is significant for discussing the impact of temporary loss on children.
Thus, Klein asserts that it is only when the baby is able to realise that the mother holds
both good and bad experiences and is a separate being from itself, that it reaches the
crucial step of being able to internalise the ‘good’ mother and love the mother as a
whole, separate person (Klein 1940, cited by Mitchell 1986: 165). From gradually
experiencing what is real and unreal, an infant eventually detaches itself from the lost
‘object’ and comes to terms with its loss (Archer 2001: 16; Klein 1940, cited by Mitchell
1986: 147). To achieve independence, a baby must form a separate existence from the
mother. Secure attachment is vital to achieving this, since it enables the baby to feel
real love, and experience real grief from loss, so providing the resource of inner
strength. The significance of attachment research for adults managing bereaved
children, comes from the realisation that even very young children form strong
attachments, and mourn the loss of the attachment figure (Klein 1940, cited by
Mitchell 1986: 165). Klein realised that the mourning of young children could be greatly
helped if the child was with people he (sic) loved who were able to reduce any distress,
and so restore inner-world harmony (Klein 1940, cited by Mitchell 1986: 165).
Bowlby
Mothers
Whilst later work on attachment theory emanates from the huge archive of research
from Freud and Klein, Bowlby sought to find an alternative, theoretical model for
attachment, within the school of psychoanalysis. Bowlby’s research of the infant-
mother relationship, led him to write his ground-breaking work on the making and
breaking of emotional bonds (Archer 2001: 47). Influenced by Darwin’s work on
68 There are two main, contrasting views relating to object-relations; the romantic view, which
sees humans as intrinsically good and the baby as realising primary love and the Classic view,
which is more pessimistic and sees love as developmental and humans as flawed beings, trying
to become better (Fonagy 2001: 82).
39
ethology, 69and Lorenz’s work on imprinting,70 Bowlby’s work on maternal bonds
stemmed from a new hypothesis. Incorporating a psychoanalytic model, but drawing
more ideas from developmental psychology, Bowlby found shortcomings with object-
relations theory and its reliance on food gratification. He adopted a more biological
approach to determining how attachments are formed in the first six months of life.
Initially, Bowlby worked alongside two colleagues, Klein and Isaacs, in a study
examining World War Two evacuees (Shemmings and Shemmings 2011: 18). Bowlby
et al discovered that those children from a secure base, whose needs were understood
and met by their carer, coped much better with the separation from their parents than
those children who were not securely attached and whose needs had not been met
(Shemmings and Shemmings 2011: 18).
Bowlby’s approach was influenced by Klein, whom he praised for making a connection
between childhood loss and mourning (Bowlby 1980: 36), but whom he criticised for
connecting the ‘loss’ of the mother only to ‘feeding and weaning’ (Bowlby[1989] 2006:
77). Bowlby’s contrasting findings suggest that the infant’s goal is to achieve security.
Consequently, Bowlby defined attachment behaviour as ‘any form of behaviour that
results in a person maintaining proximity to some other clearly identified individual who
is conceived as better able to cope with the world’ (Bowlby 1988: 26). Bowlby’s
‘monotropy’ theory suggests that the forming of one special attachment with a primary
caregiver to ensure survival, views the mother as qualitatively different to any
subsequent attachment (Bowlby 1958 [1969] 1982, cited by Cassidy 2002: 338). Thus,
a mother responding to distressed cries is more likely to form a secure attachment with
the child than a mother providing food without security or comfort in the face of
perceived danger. The secure attachment provides an inner working model for
managing all future events and the security of all future attachments (Fonagy 2001: 8).
Conversely, an insecure attachment could arise in a child who cries, smiles or crawls
towards the mother and is ignored (ibid.) possibly adversely affecting all future
attachments.
Other attachments
Bowlby perceives the loss of good mothering as the worst loss (Fonagy 2001: 50).
Realising that children of eighteen months, separated from a parent, show grief
69 Ethology is the study of the behaviour of animals in their natural habitat and human ethology
is the study of human behaviour, especially aggressive and submissive behaviour in social
contexts.
70 Lorenz discovered that young animals would follow an attachment figure even when food is
not being offered.
40
reactions similar to those expressed for bereavement, Bowlby was able to clarify that
such young children can mourn (Bowlby 1958, cited by Fonagy 2001: 50).
Furthermore, from his own observations and drawing on research, including Furman’s
work, Bowlby concludes that children as young as six months old can mourn loss
(Christ 2000: 12, citing Bowlby 1980). However Schaffer and Emerson’s study of
Scottish infants (1964) found that young children, particularly after eighteen months of
age, became similarly attached to adults who were not the main carers (Schaffer and
Emerson 1964, cited by Rutter 1987: 271). Additionally, Heinecke and Westheimer
(1965) showed that children can form strong bonds with many people (Heinecke and
Westheimer 1965, cited by Rutter 1987: 271). Moreover, in subsequent trials, children
experienced equal distress whether the mother left them, or their sibling (Heinecke and
Westheimer 1965, cited by Rutter 1987: 271) or the father (Lamb 1977, cited by Rutter
1987: 271).
Whilst there is clearly support for assuming the importance of the mother above all
other attachments, researchers investigating secure attachments in other cultures
expose the shortcomings of perceiving only the natural mother as a potential main
attachment figure. Parkes, Laungani and Young (1997) looked at how the bond formed
by children raised by several mother figures was from ‘a matter of behaviour not blood
relationship’ (Parkes et al 1997: 239). Deaths from close friends, siblings and teachers
can significantly affect children (Young and Papadatou 1998: 197). However,
notwithstanding that influential emotional bonds form with different attachment figures,
studies still show a hierarchical preference for one particular adult over others
(Ainsworth 1967; Schaffer and Emerson 1964, cited by Rutter 1987: 271). Donald
Winnicott, also an object-relationist, explored attachment theory more recently.
Winnicott
Good-enough mothers
The existence of trust between baby and parent, or parent-figure (Winnicott 1985: 56),
centrally underlies Winnicott’s theory. His middle ground on attachment is less food-
driven than Freud and less reliant on ‘good-mothering’ than Klein or Bowlby.
Conversely, Winnicott (1985) suggests that for a child to form a healthy secure
attachment, a mother need not be perfect, or even a ‘good’ mother. To provide the
security for an infant to become autonomous she only needs to be ‘good enough’
(Winnicott 1985: 163). Furthermore, ‘good enough’ mothering is sufficient for a
bereaved child to relinquish the living maternal bond and form a revised, enduring bond
with the dead (Shapiro 1994: 41). Winnicott agrees with Klein however, that the baby’s
41
progression towards independence relies on the baby’s use of its mental faculties to
regard the mother not as one with itself, ruled by omnipotence, but as a separate being
(Winnicott 1985: 95). Winnicott 1985 contributes greatly to attachment theory from his
emphasis on bonding through play. The facial and noise interaction between mother
and baby strengthens security of the baby-parent relationship, whereby the mother
mirrors the baby’s emotions (Winnicott 1985: 55). This has important implications for
babies of mothers who are post-natally depressed or depressed from bereavement.
Rustin(2001) asserts that if parents cannot ‘provide a sufficient level of emotional
responsiveness, there is risk that serious developmental arrest or disorder in the infant
may take place’ (Rustin 2001: 191). A depressed mother, unable to respond to her
child through smiling and playing, could therefore represent an early loss for some
babies.
Not good-enough mothers
Fonagy (2001) explains that the mother being ‘not good enough’ from inability to
replicate the baby’s behaviour, negates the baby’s confidence in its own omnipotence
and prevents healthy forming of emotional and bodily intimacy with the mother (Fonagy
2001: 118). In normal development, the baby’s attachment to the parent, and its dual
feelings of love and hate for the object, eventually form a morally balanced adult who
can love itself and others (Fonagy 2001: 191). Without trust in the mother, the
attachment is lost before the mother is successfully internalised. All the baby’s magical
power is missing if a mother’s unresponsive facial features fail to mirror the baby’s own
feelings (Winnicott 1985: 55). Consequently, if a mother’s reactions are erratic, unsafe,
not trusted and uneasily read by the infant, the attachment can be labelled
‘disorganised’. Parents with unresolved trauma and loss can have children with
disorganised-attachment (Siegel 1999, cited by Green and Scholes 2003: 28).
Consequently, teachers of bereaved children may be dealing not only with children’s
unresolved losses, but also with the unresolved grief of school parents and even their
own unresolved loss.
LOSS
Longitudinal loss
Past losses and separations have an impact on current losses, separations and
attachments, and all these factors have a bearing on the fear of future losses and
separations and the capacity to make future attachments (Simos 1979: 27, cited
by Worden 1986: 55).
42
Simos’(1979) summing up of the longitudinal effect of loss, referred to above, suggests
that the empirical evidence is clear-cut, however, there are inconsistencies in findings.
Following their review of twenty controlled studies, Crook and Eliot (1980) criticise the
research reporting association between child bereavement and adult depression as
‘methodologically flawed’ (Crook and Eliot 1980, cited by Rabkin 1982: 491). However,
empirical research by Black and Young (1995) found that children who suffer parental
loss are significantly more likely to develop ‘psychiatric disorders and may suffer
considerable social difficulties throughout childhood, and later in adult life’ (Black and
Young 1995: 197, cited by Parkes et al 1997). Peretz (1970) notes how each loss
‘carries with it the threat of an additional future loss’ (Peretz 1970: 6) and later support
for this premise comes from Edelmann (1994), Pill and Zabin (1997), and Brennan,
Clark and Shaver (1998).
Early loss can therefore be internalised as rejection from the attachment figure
(Mireault, Bearor and Thomas 2002: 99), threatening initial security and future
relationships. Moreover, recent research collated by the Joanna Briggs Institute found
that six weeks after loss, thirty per cent of adult mental-health patients were
dysfunctional, and had some remaining unresolved ‘bereavement issues’ (2006: 64)71.
Later psychiatric studies by Black (Black 1998, cited by Mireault et al 2002: 98) and
also Geiss, Whittlesey, McDonald, Smith and Pfefferbaum (Geiss et al 1998, cited by
Mireault et al 2002: 98), suggest that childhood loss is a major risk factor for later
instability. Mireault and Bond (1992) studied 13,017 subjects, and asked thirty female
respondents motherless before age eighteen, to complete questionnaires relating to
remembered relationships with their mother and more recent adult relationships.
Although Mireault and Bond found a link between childhood trauma and adult
depression, their research concluded that the most likely reason for maternally
deprived girls to become anxiously-attached adults is the feeling of vulnerability, which
early maternal loss projects onto the fear of losing other relationships (Mireault and
Bond 1992, cited by Mireault et al 2002: 101). Research by Haine, Wolchik, Sandler,
Millsap and Ayers (2008) also suggests a raised risk level of ‘negative outcomes’ for
bereaved children (Haine et al 2008, cited by CWRC72 2014: 11). The research above
71Joanna Briggs Institute (2006) Literature Review Bereavement and Bereavement Care.
[online] Available at http://www.rgu.ac.uk/files/dmfile/bereavement-and-bereavement-
care-literature-review.pdf
72 Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre (CWRC) 2014 Bereavement in Childhood: the impact
on Psychological and Educational Outcomes and the effectiveness of Support Services. [online]
Available at
43
into the effect of secure or insecure early attachment forms a basis for exploring
children’s understanding of death concepts and the diversity of loss.
Children’s understanding of death and loss
Although research clarifies the importance of lost maternal bonds, and children in the
twenty-first century encounter many losses other than maternal death,73 it is possible to
agree with Milton that loss arises when ‘anything that is valued or anyone we are
attached to is removed from our lives’ (Milton 2004: 58). Notwithstanding the long-term
consequences of greater losses, a range of perceived lesser losses can also have
long-term effects on children, and this chapter examines research into the effect of
losses other than death. Nonetheless, this section begins with a review of some of the
research into children’s understanding of death, which relates to the death concepts
outlined by Speece and Brent (Speece and Brent 1984: 1671).
Death concepts
Inevitably, research into children’s death concepts has been explored in relation to
adult concepts (Holland 2001: 51), which are largely influenced by a range of social
and cultural issues, religious assumptions and personal beliefs (Slaughter 2005, cited
by Bonoti, Leondari and Mastora 2011: 47). Although researchers realised the
importance of studying children’s concepts, research before 1930 focused on
unhealthy children’s understanding of death, before shifting to healthy children’s
responses (Anthony 1940; Schilder and Wechsler 1934, cited by Speece and Brent
1984: 1671). It is now ‘a rapidly increasing body of research’ (Speece and Brent 1984:
1671). The death concepts, explored by Speece and Brent are:
Irreversibility (or irrevocability): once a living thing dies its physical body cannot
become alive again (Hornblum 1978; Childers and Wimmer 1971).
Non-functionality: all life-defining mechanisms have ceased on death (Nagy 1948).
Universality (or inevitability): all living things die (Childers and Wimmer 1971; Bolduc
1972).
Speece and Brent (1984: 1678) suggest a link between understanding death concepts
and a Piagetian series of learning stages. It is therefore useful to outline Piaget’s
http://www.cwrc.ac.uk/news/documents/Revised_Childhood_Bereavement_review_2014a.pdf
(accessed 18.6.15)
73 Mothers suffered high rates of death from puerperal fever in the nineteenth century.
44
stages here, setting in context the most likely ages whereby full understanding is
achieved.
TABLE ONE: Piagetian Stages
Pre-Operational
(2-7 years)
Co-ordination of motor-responses and
sensory input. Children learn to
communicate, copy sounds and develop
speech. Children develop a sense of object
permanence; i.e. an object exists when
unseen.
Concrete-Operational
(7-11 years)
Development of symbolic thought marked by
egocentrism. The child sees the world only
from its own viewpoint. It experiences
centration, i.e. can only focus on either the
problem or the object in a situation. Children
use imagery and language.
Formal-Operational
(11 years to adult)
Children see a different point of view and
begin to see and reason with concrete
knowledge, but not reason outcomes such
as ‘the future’.
Children think logically, abstractly and
theoretically to solve problems.
Content from Donaldson (1978: 134-135)
Although the suggested stages of understanding death concepts are linked to
Piagetian developmental stages, they are necessarily flexible, since cultural and
experiential factors can influence children’s understanding (Koocher 1973, cited by
Speece and Brent 1984: 1680). As children’s experiences vary greatly, there is
potential for disparity between researchers for the ages agreed whereby children fully
understand the long-term implications of loss. Notwithstanding Piagetian stages, there
is disagreement surrounding the age at which children fully understand death and
whether their understanding is more likely to be affected by personal experience or
physical development.
Developmental understanding
Magical thinking
Pioneering empirical studies by Anthony (1940) and Nagy (1948), suggest that
children’s development is a significant factor in understanding death concepts. They
45
ascertain that children below five years of age could mourn a loss, but that the finality
of death is denied and the children do not understand the irreversibility of death (Archer
2001: 50). These findings comply with the theory of ‘magical thinking’74 experienced by
children aged between two and six years old (Jewett 1992: 27) during which many
children either believe that death can be reversed, or that the dead live on differently
elsewhere and will return (Lonetto 1980, cited by Jewett 1992: 27).
Irreversibility and irrevocability
Children of five and more seem to change their thinking about certain concepts. Kane
(1979) specifies that the average child of six understands that death is irreversible
(Kane 1979, cited by Holland 2001: 50). Archer extends this, stating that somewhere
between ages five and seven, most children understand that death is irreversible and
involves non-functioning (ibid: 51). They do not necessarily realise that they can die,
although children aged nine to ten years old are most likely to understand they will, and
realise that death is inevitable (Jewett 1992: 27). Having examined thirty-five studies
exploring children’s age-related understanding, and the relation to Piagetian stages,
Speece and Brent (1984) criticise some psychologists75 for relating cognitive
development to understanding of death with inadequate empirical research to support
them (Speece and Brent 1984: 1680). Nonetheless, despite ambiguous findings,
Speece and Brent conclude that age development does impact on understanding, and
therefore most concrete-operational76children should understand all three death
concepts (Speece and Brent 1984: 1683).
Furthermore, they suggest that children as young as eighteen months old have some
concept of death ‘long before they achieve the normative adult conceptualization’
(Speece and Brent 1984: 1673). Adults base their decisions to involve children in
death-rites on their own perception of children’s understanding, (Holland 2001: 50) but
an important distinction is required between children’s understanding of the infinitude,
irreversibility and universality of death, and children’s aptitude for mourning loss.
74 The cognitive stage of childhood associated with children assuming control over what
happens to themselves and others through their own thoughts and actions (Jewett 1992: 8).
75 Anthony 1972; Kane 1979; Robinson 1976/78; Safier 1964 and Steiner 1965, cited by Speece
and Brent (1984: 1680)
76 The concrete-operational stage follows the pre-operational stage. The pre-operational stage
is one in which children tend to see the world as absolute and in which children are influenced
by how something seems, rather than by logical principles or operations. (Gross 1987: 482) One
of the most famous Piagetian task to demonstrate this principle was the Three Mountains task.
(See Donaldson, 1978:19-20)
46
Ages for mourning
As well as variance for when children fully understand death, there is disagreement of
the age when children can mourn, which might emanate from defining the term and its
link with verbalisation. Bowlby (1961) concludes that children as young as six months
old can mourn loss, (Bowlby 1961, cited by Worden 2003: 77) whereas Wolfenstein
(1966) argues that children cannot fully mourn until they reach adolescence and have
formed a complete identity (Wolfenstein 1966, cited by Worden 2003: 77). Furman
(1974) adopts a middle ground suggesting that children aged three can mourn (Furman
1974, cited by Worden 2003:77). However, as well as a presumed link between
children’s ages and their understanding of death, equally, adults can incorrectly
evaluate children’s comprehension of loss by connecting developmental age with an
ability for language communication. Kűbler-Ross [1969] simplifies the discussion and
asserts that children ‘are old enough to grieve if they are old enough to love’ (Kűbler-
Ross [1969] 2005: 160).
Mallon (1998) also argues that ‘limited language does not mean limited feelings’
(Mallon 1998: 29) and Silverman agrees that ‘although young children may have no
words for death, they understand when something is lost and can show their concern
and distress in non-verbal ways’ (Silverman 2000: 50). Dyregrov (2007) expands the
possibilities and suggests that ‘before they master the language to express such
experiences, they [children] can carry such events in non-verbal form, and then, when
mastering language, give words to their impressions’ (Eth and Pynoos 1985, cited by
Dyregrov 2007:17). Obviously, this relies on adults being able to discuss the loss when
the child is ready. However, notwithstanding children’s language development, their
acquisition of grief-language can be hampered by adult embarrassed denial. Children
unable to voice their feelings can lead adults to wrongly assume that they are
untouched by loss. As children encounter many losses, the next discussion relates to
the grief from loss for both adults and children, since both parents and children often
share the same bereavement.
Losses other than deaths
Whilst death of a loved one is obviously a loss, and is therefore included in that
category, there are other losses that cause great grief. To recap, grief from loss can be
defined as ‘the characteristic response to the loss of a valued object, be it a loved
person, a cherished object, a job, status, home, country, an ideal, a part of the body’
(Engel 1961:18, cited by Bruce and Schultz 2001: 32). More recently, Holland (2001)
defines loss as ‘any change that impacts so greatly as to overwhelm us and be
47
problematic’ (Holland 2001: 19) and whilst some losses in Engel’s list are mostly
experienced by adults, the loss of a particular home, income and life-style can generate
significant losses for children. Duffy (2003) suggests a wide range of possible losses or
‘little deaths’ (Duffy 2003: 5) which could fit Engel’s definition:
Redundancy and unemployment;
Moving house and leaving friends behind;
Close friends or family moving away or abroad;
Separation or divorce;
Hysterectomy in young woman;
Knowledge of serious illness in loved one;
Children leaving home;
Failure to achieve;
Burglary.
Duffy’s list is neither hierarchical nor exhaustive, but recognises the impact of situations
that can feel like crises and replicate the grief of greater loss. Adults tend to rate their
own losses on a scale of mutually agreed devastation, possibly based on cultural
significance, with the death of a loved one understandably considered as very
traumatic. The mental anguish and stress of mourning any loss can affect physical and
mental health. Holmes and Rahe (1967), examined over five thousand patients, and by
exploring the link between major stress and illness they found that major life-events
preceded illness in many adults. Although twentieth century, the research still
influences perception of what will most likely cause stress. Holmes and Rahe (1967)
developed a scale of major life stressors, with life-change numerical units assigned to
each stressful event: death of a spouse; divorce; marital separation; imprisonment;
death of a close relative; personal injury or illness.
There was a positive correlation of 0.1 found between certain life events and adult
illness. In the list, the death of a spouse ranked as the most significant stressor for
adults. Interestingly, the effect of pet death on adults is not listed, although this can
cause immense grief in adults, with many books addressing the subject 77.
77Including: Friedman, James and James 2015; Sife 2014; Murray 2014
48
Effect of loss on children
Whilst children and adults can experience similar losses, a later contrasting list from
James and Friedman (2002: 4) notes what they believe to be the most common losses
experienced by children:
Death of a pet;
Death of a grandparent;
Major move;
Divorce of child’s parents;
Death of a parent(s);
Death of a playmate, friend or relative;
Debilitating injury to the child or to someone important in the child’s life.
As this is a list of likely experiences rather than an emotionally hierarchical inventory of
losses, the loss of a parent has not been placed uppermost. Clearly, imprisonment of a
parent is not considered a common loss. Brown (1999: 111) also includes:
Loss of self esteem;
Birth of a new sibling;
Abuse.
Based on the scores given to events by Holmes and Rahe (Holmes and Rahe 1967,
cited by Sorensen 1993: 51), Coddington (1972) was the first to adapt the correlation
measurement of stress-to-illness for school-age children. In ascertaining how
effectively children manage major life-stress events such as death and divorce, Masten
(1985) suggests consideration of three contributory factors (Masten 1985, cited by
Sorensen 1993: 52): socio-economic; age-development and gender; and the influence
of support mechanisms. Focusing on the final factor, external support for children relies
mainly on adults, which can include teachers, especially if the remaining parent is so
affected by grieving that they are unable to talk. However, Childline statistics (2014: 9)
demonstrate that children often have too few available confidantes. The charity charts
an increase in the number of children contacting them to discuss issues related to
divorce, separation and family conflicts, with online counselling sessions rising to
81,000 in 2013/1478 79. There are maybe too few teachers available to confide in,
78 Childline Review 2013-14 [online] Available at
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/annual-reports/childline-review-under-
pressure.pdf (accessed 14.6.15)
49
nonetheless, the approaches of family, friends and teachers all have a bearing on how
well children manage loss and accept the new situation. Adults not intervening can
arise from a lack of appreciation that the behaviour of grieving children can vary greatly
from adult expectations.
Reactions and behaviour
In the short term a child can be informed of bereavement and can seem unaffected, or
only momentarily show grief, before continuing to play as if nothing has happened.
Furman (1970) clarifies that this response is in no way a denial of death (Furman 1970:
78) and Sunderland (2003) notes that this behaviour is partly due to young children’s
developmental need to follow motoric impulses to ‘run and leap and climb and play ball’
(Sunderland and Armstrong 2003: 4). The adult associative behaviour of ‘sitting still,
introverted and depressed’ (Sunderland and Armstrong 2003: 4) results in a
misdiagnosis of childhood grief. Just as adults need time to assimilate new information
into their schema, so do children. Additionally, Jewett (1992) asserts that vulnerable
bereaved children can resist crying, from the need to protect themselves from ‘internal
feelings of weakness’ (Jewett 1992: 137), particularly if at school. Adults knowing signs
to look for can help children grieve and Dyregrov (2007) identifies the most common
childhood grief reactions, which can come in any order, with some lasting longer than
others:
anxiety;
vivid memories;
sleep difficulties;
sadness and longing;
anger and acting-out behaviour;
guilt;
self-reproach and shame;
school problems;
and physical complaints.
(Dyregrov 2007: 15)
Somaticisation is another possible effect. Hemmings (1995) suggests that from having
less understanding of situational implications and almost no control over what direction
their life will take, children might take longer than adults to resolve their grief
79 The chapter on educational policy findings expands this discussion.
50
(Hemmings 1995, cited by Holland 2001: 154). Arguably, many reactions listed could
lead to school problems, not least children failing academically from absenteeism.
Feigning illness (Brown 1999: 70) can be more than attention seeking in bereaved
children, allowing them to ensure the living parent is there. Mallon (2011) confirms that
children can become too distressed to leave home and that what is sometimes mis-
diagnosed as school phobia is actually separation anxiety, relieved by being able to
telephone home (Mallon 2011: 50). However, some children do experience real
physical symptoms. There has been significant research into somaticisation as an
expression of grief in bereaved children ‘especially the experience of headaches and
stomach aches’ (Sood et al 1992, cited by Worden 1996: 64).
These symptoms are particularly likely in younger children with limited verbal abilities
(Furman 1974, cited by Worden 1996: 64). Higher levels of somatic symptoms occur in
families experiencing large numbers of post-loss disruptions (Worden 1996: 65).
Although the research explored somaticisation following bereavement from death,
children can show similar grief following house-moves and long-term separation from
an attachment figure from other causes. To understand better how to manage
bereaved children, I now turn to exploring stages of grief.
Grief Phases and Stages
Passive and Active
A glance at psychological recovery through mourning shows that there are two main
approaches to healing the bereaved; passive and active. Worden suggests that those
defining the process as phases of mourning, such as Bowlby, Parkes and Sanders, are
making observations and advocating that the bereaved take a more passive approach
in which they move through phases of grief (Worden 2008: 39). Conversely, suggesting
tasks of mourning reflects an active approach, whereby the participant makes
adjustments as they encounter experiences. Phase, or stage models of mourning can
be seen in Table Two below:
51
TABLE TWO: Grief Phases and Stages
Bowlby (4 phases)
Jewett (3 phases)
Kűbler-Ross (5 stages)
Numbing and / or anger
Early grief- shock, numbing,
alarm, denial
Denial
Yearning and
Searching
Acute grief-yearning,
pining, searching, strong
feeling, disorganisation,
despair, reorganisation
Anger
Disorganisation and
Despair
Subsiding grief,
Integration of loss and grief,
mastering of loss or
separation.
Bargaining
Reorganisation
Depression
Acceptance
(Derived from Bowlby 1980; Jewett 1992; Kűbler-Ross 1969)
The differences between how children and adults express their grief has been shown
above to be necessarily different, due to the developmental stage variances, however,
the actual tasks of mourning can be similar for all mourners, irrespective of age (Smith
and Pennells 1985; Holland 1997, cited by Brown 1999: 1). Bowlby asserts that while
there is variation in the intensity and phase length of grief for each individual ‘there is
none the less a basic overall pattern’ (Bowlby 2006: 101). Reflected in Table Two,
Bowlby defines four phases of mourning applicable to children as well as adults
(Bowlby 1981, cited by Jackson and Colwell 2002: 91). These are not prescriptive in
order, as mourners can move back and forth between them (Jackson and Colwell
2002: 91; Jewett 1992: 64). Jewett suggests three phases of grief, similar to Bowlby’s
phases (Jewett 1992: chapter 3) but more comprehensive. Kűbler-Ross refers to grief-
stages rather than phases, and suggests them as a process rather than a state to be
moved through (Kűbler-Ross [1969] 2005: 7). Having outlined what she believed to be
the five stages of mourning (ibid.) Kűbler-Ross later qualified their rigidity and wrote
that ‘they were never meant to help tuck messy emotions into neat packages’ (ibid).
Nonetheless, the idea of prescribed stages is still prevalent in common parlance.
Worden’s Four Tasks and the Dual-Process Model
Whilst agreement with Bowlby is acknowledged, Worden lists four tasks of mourning
which bear similarities to the above stages and phases, but are more akin to Freud’s
work, presenting a less passive approach to mourning (Worden 2008: 38). Worden
(1982) asserts that those who do not complete all the tasks of grieving ‘may have an
52
incomplete bereavement, just as one might have incomplete healing from a wound’
(Worden 1982: 10). During the time of grief-work, when accepting and learning to
manage life-changes, adults can remain ‘restless, tense, anxious and unsettled until
the necessary modifications have been made’ (Parkes 2006: 32). However, the
psychological ‘health-illness’ model of bereavement is countered by Stroebe and Schut
(2012: 198) who suggest a danger exists in interpreting grief as something you recover
from, and that such reasoning can lead to assuming that grief is ‘bad’ and that only
healthy states are ‘good’ (ibid.: 203). Stroebe and Schut propose a dual-process model
of bereavement which suggests that everyday life experiences switch between loss-
oriented and restoration-oriented actions. Although Stroebe and Schut (2012)
acknowledge the need for more empirical evidence to support their model (ibid: 220)
they have modified the tasks to reflect their model, suggesting a need for ‘dosage’ with
breaks away from mourning (ibid: 213). Conversely, Worden (2009) states that certain
tasks of mourning must be achieved before equilibrium can be restored, completing
mourning, or adaptation to loss (2009: 39). Worden’s final task appears to relate to
Freud’s suggestion that to successfully manage lost attachments, the bereaved must
be able to emotionally detach from the deceased person and form new attachments.
The tasks comparisons are listed:
Worden (2009: 39)
to accept the reality of the loss;
to experience the pain of grief;
to adjust to an environment in which the deceased is missing;
to withdraw emotional energy and reinvest it in another relationship.
Stroebe and Schut (2012: 213)
accepting the reality of a changed world,
taking time off from the pain of grief.
to reconstruct the subjective environment
to develop new roles, identities and relationships
The possibility exists that rather than wanting detachment and forming new
relationships, the bereaved can take comfort from retaining their relationship with the
person they have lost (Furman 1974, cited by Silverman 2000: 20). Furman (1974),
researching the effects of bereavement on pre-school children, asserts that mourning
ended ‘when the children identified with a part of the deceased, thus allowing them to
keep aspects of their lost parents with them forever’ (Furman 1974, cited by Silverman
53
2000: 20). Whilst the main sample of children studied by Furman were almost entirely
pathologically problematic, some younger children in the sample had minimal problems
prior to bereavement, and the work is valuable for insight into children’s responses
following a parent’s death (Bowlby 1980: 267).
Similarly, the stage-model was originally adopted by Kũbler-Ross [1969] (1982) as a
means for understanding the phases of grief attributed to terminally ill adults, making it
questionable whether it should be used to understand healthy children’s grief. As it is
suggested that there is a possible denial of death, it is worth stating that there is a
distinction between denying, or refusing to discuss actual death, and the bereaved
finding it unbelievable that the dead person is not going to walk through the door. It is
important to confirm that the phases and stages are suggesting that mourners believe
the bereavement, but possibly find acceptance difficult. Whilst all humans experience
some loss as an inevitable part of growth, most are transient losses which although
detrimental to wellbeing, are eventually managed. Viorst (1998) maintains that some
losses are ‘necessary’, and that ‘without increasing periods alone and the consequent
experience of loss, we would not mature’ (Viorst 1998, cited by Lendrum and Syme
2004: 3).
Adults’ handling of bereaved children
‘Embarrassed denial’ and realism
Hockey argues that many children are now shielded from the reality of human mortality
(Hockey 2001, in Hockey, Katz and Small 2001: 193). Clearly, whilst children are not
immune to the possibility of death, often seeing it in television drama and violent DVD
games, these experiences are too unrealistic and remote for children to understand
that death could happen to someone they know, or to them. Laungani and Young
(1997) support this premise, noting that although children are ‘socialized into a culture
of violence, destruction and death, they are insulated from death as a reality’ (Laungani
and Young 1997: 222). Media ‘bad’ death, in which the dead often return to life,
presents death to children as ‘magical’, unreal and reversible. They are left ignorant of
the irreversibility of real death and unprepared for the impact of mourning on their lives,
and of others. Although no empirical evidence suggests that seeing real dead bodies
will traumatise children, and Jewett (1992) suggests that children do not seem to
experience ‘unusual problems’ (Jewett 1992: 34), the accepted Western view is that
children should not be involved in ritual (Laungani and Young 1997: 222).
54
However, it is often easier for children to have the facts than be frightened by what
other children say, or by their own active imagination. Nonetheless, outside of other
religious traditions, Christian and secular Britain has created a culture of denial, where
even using the words ‘dying’ and ‘dead’ with children are avoided and replaced with
euphemisms. Since children now experience reduced involvement in the ritual of
community deaths, arguably, they are in greater need of death education.
Too good a childhood?
It is interesting to note therefore, that in contrast to the effects of childhood loss and
potentially serial, insecure attachment patterns, Rando (2002) also suggests that a too
perfect childhood can cause problems for adults managing traumatic life events. Rando
cites evidence for this view in her article ‘The “Curse” of the Too Good a Childhood’, in
which she bemoans the lack of ‘a healthy dose of misfortune’ (Rando 2002, cited by
Parkes 2006: 145). Rando bases her argument on potential problems arising from a
person’s lack of experience with ‘defending and revising their assumptive worlds’ (ibid).
There is resonance here with Piagetian assimilation of new experiences into existing
schema (Piaget 1954, cited by Kauffman 2002: 18) and Duffy’s experiential ‘little
deaths’ (Duffy 2003: 5). Rando (2002) also suggests that those who have ‘positive
expectations of themselves and others’ are devastated when they suffer
disappointment, for which their past life has left them unprepared (Rando 2002, cited
by Parkes 2006: 145). The situation can prove so traumatic, they don’t risk forming
further attachments in case they too are lost, which bears similarity to the discussed
work on attachment by Simos (Simos 1979: 27, cited by Worden 1982: 55). Adult over-
protection of children can impede their chances of coping with losses, especially death.
Bereavement figures
Draper and Hancock (2011) assert that figures for the number of bereaved children in
Britain are difficult to verify, with ‘significant’ bereavements hard to quantify (Draper and
Hancock 2011: 290). Lowton and Higginson(2002) also reflect that the numbers could
be higher, since male suicide and deaths from HIV are not included in the data (Lowton
and Higginson 2002 [sic],80 cited by Draper and Hancock 2011: 289). Nonetheless,
figures from the bereavement charity Winston’s Wish81 (2015) state that in Britain,
approximately 358,300 children are annually bereaved of a sibling; 24,000 are
bereaved of a parent; over 530,000 children each year experience the death of a close
80 The journal paper quoted appears to have been published in 2003.
81 Winston’s Wish has been based in Southern England since 2006. Winston’s Wish History.
[online] Available at http://www.winstonswish.org.uk/about-us/our-history/ (accessed 27.1.14)
55
family friend and over a million children under sixteen years old experience the death of
a grandparent (Winston’s Wish: 2015)82. As up to sixty-three per cent of grandparents
are now relied upon for child-care for children under sixteen,83 their deaths can be a
significant early loss to a child (Dyregrov 2007: 37).
Adult reticence
Adult approaches to preparing children for death have been shown to have far-
reaching effects, with bad handling of situations negatively impacting on children’s
management of later adult bereavements (Black and Young 1995, cited by Young and
Papadatou 1997: 197). Resonant of the discussed unease accompanying expressing
condolences (Gorer 1977: 720), death talk in particular is further hampered by adult
determination not to cry in front of children (Bowlby 1980: 272). My own classroom
experience recalls that parents are largely unaware that this is unhelpful and surprised
when the possibility is mentioned. Mallon(1998) blames adult inhibition for children’s
reticence in discussing death and she asserts that it causes growing children to discern
that some subjects are taboo (Mallon 1998: 11). Bowlby(1980) agrees that children ‘are
quick to realise when a parent is afraid to show their feelings of grief and will
correspond by not showing their own’ (Bowlby 1980: 272). This could lead to adults
wrongly assuming that children are coping. Corr, Nabe and Corr (2009) suggest that by
talking to adults, even strangers, children use responses to their questions to achieve
guidance for how they too should respond (Corr et al 2009: 343). Furthermore, adult
desire to retain emotional control suggests to children that feelings should be kept
‘under cover’.
Dyregrov confirms that by avoiding discussing feelings, adults become negative role
models (Dyregrov 2007: 72). Despite post-1960s research improving professional
acceptance of ‘talking cures’ (Lendrum and Syme 2004: 56), Lendrum and Syme
assert that by avoiding ‘awkward’ questions, adults are ‘introducing a process of
embarrassed denial with young children’ (ibid.: 55). Notwithstanding that this is
doubtless prompted by fear of saying the wrong thing, it is also likely that adults fear
distressed children, and one way that they attempt to reduce unpleasantness is with
euphemisms. Euphemisms for death, such as ‘gone with the angels’ or ‘gone to sleep’,
can be used by adults because they have developed metaphorical language, however,
82 Ibid.
83 Department for Work and Pensions ((DfWP) 26 July 2013) Looking After the Grandchildren?
Make Sure it Counts Towards your State Pension. [online]
Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/looking-after-the-grandchildren-make-sure-it-
counts-towards-your-state-pension (accessed 13.10.15)
56
when explaining death to children, such phrases are mostly meaningless. However,
euphemistic denial of death is not singularly a twenty-first century phenomenon. Ariès
(1981), in discussing attitudes to death over thirty years ago, stated that children were
excluded from death, and were either uninformed or told ‘their father has gone on a trip
or that Jesus has taken him’ (Ariès 1981: 576). Lack of physical contact with the dying
or dead distances adults and children from death, a situation discussed above.
Laungani and Young (1997) uphold this view and claim that ‘not only do parents protect
themselves from encountering death but take special pains to prevent their children
from witnessing death’ (Laungani and Young 1997: 221).
Funerals and viewing bodies
Joining in with ritual is a way to move on through stages of grief and hopefully share
that experience with another person. Children’s first experience of seeing dead bodies
and burying them might be a loved pet. In the case of human loss, rituals provide an
outlet for grief and a chance to say goodbye not only to the person who has died, but
also to the relationship they shared. Rituals help people come to terms with reality and
are part of the grief process, helping children understand more and to ask questions.
Although adult fears and concerns can inhibit children from making ‘the unreal real’
(Dyregrov 2007: 58) Lendrum and Syme(2004) assert that if children are given clear
information from adults, they should decide for themselves whether or not to see a
dead body and attend a funeral (ibid.: 71). However, both Mallon (2011) and
Brown(1999) recommend preparing children beforehand (Brown 1999: 20) and when
viewing bodies, children need warning of what the body will look like; that it will feel
cold, and will be unable to see or speak because dead people cannot do these things.
Mallon suggests reducing the shock by forewarning the coolness of the room and
whether the coffin will be open (Mallon 2011: 112).
However, saying goodbye to a loved one might be less important for children than
checking the person is really dead. Brown (2000) suggests that children should be
allowed to touch the body if they wish to (Brown 2000: 21). The literature review
clarifies that in previous centuries children were aware of death and as many people
died at home, the chance to experience dying would have been common. The
attendance of younger children at funerals is now a cultural84 dilemma. Notwithstanding
that some children prefer not to attend (Dyregrov 2007: 64), adult decision to exclude
children without seeking their opinion is another form of death denial (Lendrum and
84 British Christian and secular culture.
57
Syme 2004: 71), which Dyregrov suggests can reinforce children’s own denial of death
(Dyregrov 2007: 59) by avoiding the situation. Duffy(2003) agrees that funeral rites give
all ages an opportunity to be part of a grieving community; to realise that a change has
occurred (Duffy 2003: 52); to say goodbye and begin grief-work. As part of the
longitudinal Harvard Child Bereavement Study, which began in 1987, Worden studied
one hundred and twenty five children bereaved of a parent. From his research,
Worden(1996) upheld the need to include children in the experience of loss, and listed
three supportive strategies:
Supportive strategies
Funerals
1. they should receive adequate information about a death and its cause;
2. they should be involved in ritual and discussions
3. they should have grief behaviour modelled by adults.
(Worden 1996: 13)
Attending a funeral and sharing in the reminiscences afterwards could be as helpful for
children as it is for adults. Teachers can be particularly helpful for children to discuss
their worries with, since they are usually removed from the bereavement. My own
experience of discussing funerals with classes is that once conversation begins, the
children are enthusiastic to either share experiences or ask more questions. Older
children particularly, can agonise over the opinions of others and whether they will be
thought ‘babyish’ if they cry, and unfeeling if they don’t (Jewett 1992: 34). There is also
evidence that children with learning disabilities are often excluded from any
preparations for the funeral or from attending the ceremony, in case they behave in a
manner considered inappropriate (Raji, Hollins and Drinnan 2003, cited by Mallon
2011: 43). Children to whom no-one has spoken about a funeral can be consoled
knowing everyone grieves differently.
Post-funeral support
There is also evidence of insufficient post-funeral support for bereaved children,
85outlined in the Grief Matters report from the National Children’s Bureau (NCB)86:
85 Related to predominantly white Christian or secular families.
86 NCB (2007) [online] Available at
http://test.childhoodbereavementnetwork.org.uk/documents/GMCBwithcover_000.pdf (accessed
16.6.15)
58
to manage the impact of such a life-changing experience, children need
support from family, friends and other important people in their lives - but some
struggle to find the help they want. (NCB 2007: 5)
This is particularly so for ‘looked after’ children87 who have sometimes had more than
one loss and several placements88. The number of primary school age children in local
authority care in England has risen, with over five thousand of those aged five to nine89
(DfE 2015: Table C1)90. Mallon(2011) cites the study by Cousins, Monteith, Larkin and
Percy (2003), which suggests that thirty per cent of looked after children under five
were bereaved of a close family member (Mallon 2011: 45). Those children not ‘looked
after’ by local authorities, who have access to family, can still experience
uncommunicative, grieving adults where the reality of their own loss can seem ‘too
difficult to contemplate’ (Silverman, Nickman and Worden 1992, cited by Bruce and
Schulz 2001: 123). Bereaved children returning to school, also face the possibility of
mixing with peers who have no personal experience of bereavement from death.
Bereaved children are sometimes isolated from mis-informed children, who fear that
through contact they could be affected similarly (Jewett 1992: 18). Schools lacking an
ethos of open death-talk can create extra worry for bereaved children, rather than a
welcome diversion (Wade and Smart 2002)91.
Those children whose schools offer a safe haven, with safe places, people and
situations (Mallon 2011: 56), are more likely to manage post-bereavement grief.
Nonetheless, the effects of losses other than death are not always understood. For
some children, although a parent is not dead their inaccessibility makes them ‘dead’ to
the child. Further to the discussion above, Winnicott (1985) notes that to a child below
two years of age, whose mother has left home to have another baby ‘she is dead from
the point of view of the child’ (Winnicott 1985: 25). Too young to understand the
temporariness of the loss, a child can feel overwhelming sadness at what they perceive
is permanence. Children with an imprisoned or separated parent, with whom they have
no contact, or a parent with alcohol or drug problems who cannot care for the child
properly, can experience similar grief symptoms to children bereaved by death. As
87 Children in Local Authority care.
88 Children Looked After in England including Adoption: 2014-2015. (Page 6; point 2.) [online]
Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-
adoption-2014-to-2015 (accessed 13.10.15)
89 In 2015, 3510 ‘looked after’ children are living with parents. (Ibid.)
90 (Ibid.)
91 How Primary school Children Cope with Family Change (J.R.F. 2002) 91
http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/divorce-and-separation-outcomes-children (accessed 8.1.14)
59
losses other than death are discussed, I now outline and discuss some of the
overlooked losses affecting adults and children that are likely to affect schools.
Bereavement through divorce
The security of childhood has long been regarded as synonymous with homes where
both parents live together throughout the child’s life, however, higher rates of divorce in
Britain have increased the likelihood of schools teaching young children from split
families. In England and Wales, in 2011, out of 117,000 couples divorcing, over 43,000
children aged between five and ten years were affected compared with 36,500 children
aged eleven to fifteen (ONS: 2012)92 93. In 2013, forty-eight per cent of couples
divorcing had at least one child under sixteen living with them with divorces most likely
before the eighth wedding anniversary (ONS: 2014)94. Recent, lower divorce figures
may arise from more couples co-habiting, and while it is not possible to statistically
quantify the breakdown of co-habitations, Hall (2011) states that an equal number of
co-habitees separate each year and that the effect of the break-up of those family units
on children is comparable to divorce (Hall: 2011)95. As children are similarly affected
whether the parents were married or co-habiting, the term ‘divorce’ will be used to
discuss the outcome for both situations. An estimated forty-two per cent of marriages
end in divorce in England and Wales with the percentage of marriages ending before
the tenth anniversary increasing more rapidly than in the following ten years (ONS:
9.2.13)96.
It is therefore unsurprising that those children living with parents contemplating
separation are probably primary school age. Whilst divorce is usually thought of as an
adult bereavement, the loss of secure family life has a profound effect on many
children. In 1998, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (J.R.F.) collated over 200 research
papers on the effects of divorce and separation on young people, and from these
concluded that support ‘cannot be provided by specialist services alone’ (J.R.F.: 1998)
92 Office of National Statistics (O.N.S.) (20.12.12) [online] Available at
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-238035
(accessed 10.1.14)
93 Figures for 2012 are provisional, as at June 2015.
94 Statistics from ONS (2014) Thirteen Facts About Divorce. [online] Available at
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/divorces-in-england-and-wales/2012/sty-13-facts.html
(accessed 24.6.15)
95 (Hall: 31.8.11) Help Your Children Cope with Your Divorce: A Relate Guide. (Introduction),
Kindle Edition, Ebury digital [online] Available at
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005H0CCY0/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb (accessed 12.1.14)
96 O.N.S. (published 9.2.13) http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/divorces-in-england-and-
wales/2011/sty-what-percentage-of-marriages-end-in-divorce.html (accessed 8.1.14)
60
97. The report showed that parents are most likely to ‘seek advice from G.P.s, teachers
and family lawyers, who are often ill-equipped to help’ (J.R.F.: 1998)98also stating that
teachers should be offered training to help them advise parents99. Furthermore,
although recent Childline(2013) reports show an increase of 122 per cent in the calls
from children experiencing parental separation and divorce100 and although divorce is
more widely discussed, imprisoned parents present a loss that is often hidden (Boswell
and Wedge 2002: 52). I now discuss this area of loss for its significance as another
subject of embarrassed denial, and for its low profile in primary school death and loss
education.
Bereavement through parental imprisonment
‘More than double the number of children are affected by parental imprisonment than
by divorce in the family’ (ONS 2011, cited by Action for Prisoners’ and Offenders’
Families: 2015101)102 and it is estimated that in England and Wales, 200,000 children
each year have a parent imprisoned (Action for Prisoners’ Families 2013; Morgan,
Leeson, Dillon and Wirgman 2014: 269)103. The effect on children of this type of loss is
similar to that for losses following death or family divorce, however, reference above to
James and Freedman’s (2002) list of the most common losses for children shows that
imprisonment is an excluded loss. It is possible that the non-appreciation of the effects
on children of imprisonment is as much a problem as the taboo surrounding death.
Drawing attention to Bowlby’s attachment theory, the COPING report (2013) suggests
that parental imprisonment threatens children’s attachment security (Jones and
Wainaina-Wozna 2013: 142), which can be particularly distressing since family
embarrassment can prevent children from receiving school support. I was inspired to
begin this research study because of the effects of an imprisoned father on a child in
97[online] Available at http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/divorce-and-separation-outcomes-
children (accessed 8.1.14)
98[online] Available at http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/divorce-and-separation-outcomes-
children (accessed 8.1.14)
99[online] Available at http://www.jrf.org.uk/media-centre/major-jrf-study-reviews-experiences-
children-whose-parents-divorce (accessed 10.1.14)
http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/how-primary-school-children-cope-with-family-change
(accessed 10.1.14)
100 Childline report 2012/13. [online] Available at
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/research-reports/childline-review-2012-
2013.pdf (accessed 14.6.15)
101 Renamed October 2014
102 Office for National Statistics (2011) Divorces in England and Wales 2009, Fareham: Office
for National Statistics
103 Action for Prisoners’ Families (2013) Facts and figures About Prisoners’ Families. [online]
Available at
http://www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk/uploadedFiles/2010_Publications_And_Resources/Facts_an
d_figures_about_prisoners_families_June2013.pdf (accessed 24.6.15)
61
my Foundation Stage class.104 Several years’ lack of contact with no opportunity to
discuss his father with school staff or peers was not unlike having a dead parent.
Unfortunately, the mother had not mentioned the imprisonment with me.
Blake’s (1991) assertion that children of prisoners are ‘sentenced by association’
(Blake 1991, cited by Brown 1999: 74) suggests why I had not been informed, although
once the mother knew that an incident had occurred, she felt able to discuss the
situation, albeit briefly and with some embarrassment. The recent COPING report
findings (Jones and Wainaina-Wozna 2013) show that this is not unusual in schools
and the report identifies that although responses and support from teachers was seen
as mainly positive by those parents asked (Jones et al 2013: 330), schools are seldom
aware of the situation (ibid.: 286; 9). O’Keeffe (2014) suggests that with rare
exceptions, there is a lack of school policies for recognising the needs of children with
imprisoned fathers (O’Keeffe 2014: 2). This inadequacy, coupled with parental secrecy,
contributes reasons for policies not being prioritised by schools, and the associated
grief symptoms not always recognised by teachers. The CRC report Silent Voices
(Adamson and Templeton 2012), for the Office of Children’s Commissioner, suggests
that lack of government policy development results in children receiving inadequate
support for losses other than death, such as the impact of parental drug and alcohol
abuse (ibid.: 88). Children of prisoners and those affected by substance abuse
bereavement are part of a diverse group of hidden mourners. Research shows that
children’s troublesome behaviour (ibid.: 12) may prevent them from receiving much
needed school support as it camouflages the underlying problem (Ofsted 2011a, cited
by Adamson and Templeton 2012: 35). Having since taught other children who have
experienced losses other than death, there is credibility in Jewett’s (1992) statement
that children angry from grief need release from that anger, and experience ‘a surge of
energy’ from their mouth, their arms and hands or their feet and legs’ (Jewett 1992:
123).
Although my pupil was five, more recent research notes that boys aged six to twelve
with imprisoned parents are in the age range most likely to react aggressively to the
situation (Sack 1977, cited by Lacher, Nichols and Murray 2005: 452). I was
unprepared for the boy’s violent verbal and physical reaction from the task of drawing a
family picture, however, Ward et al (1996) have stated that ‘sadness is often behind
anger’ (Ward et al 1996: 113) and with hindsight, this seemed to be true for my pupil.
104 Four to five year old children.
62
Providing an opportunity at school for children to redirect some of the anger
constructively, and to discuss their feelings appropriately, therefore gives children the
chance for support and can dissipate some of the physical need to hit out at people
(Jewett 1992: 130). Findings reveal that troublesome children are often troubled, but
without training teachers to recognise grief from loss, it hampers their ability to address
children’s needs. The vulnerability of children of prisoners is an area that teachers can
be trained to recognise and deal with. Hidden Sentence Training is offered for
professionals, including teachers, by the organisation Action for Prisoners’ and
Offenders’ Families (2016) but its inclusion in schools relies on the headteacher
designating £550 for a group training session105, despite the COPING report
suggestion that awareness should be raised.
The COPING report finds that
Training materials for teachers, school counsellors and others should be
produced and used to raise their awareness of the emotional and educational
support needs of children of prisoners (among other vulnerable groups) so that
they are better able to identify and respond to them.
(Jones A.D. and Wainaina-Wozna A.E. 2013: Recommendation EU9.2: 2013:
586).
Although children do not always verbalise their worries, feelings can be manifested
through: bed wetting; nightmares; temper tantrums; aggressive behaviour; withdrawal,
and refusing to attend school. Furthermore, the effects from parental imprisonment are
similar for children experiencing death or divorce, and can lead to an escalation of
added losses, such as parental divorce following imprisonment of one parent. This can
increase other losses (Richards 1992, cited by Brown 1999: 76) leaving children scared
that their world is falling apart (Mazza 2002, cited by Action for Prisoners’ Families
(2013)106. Ramsden (1998) suggests that children respond emotionally to the loss of an
imprisoned parent through feelings of guilt, low self-esteem, confusion and frustration
(Ramsden 1998, cited by Brown 1999: 76). Noble (1995) interviewed thirty families and
105 Available at http://www.parentinguk.org/our-work/training/hidden-sentence/ (accessed
20.6.16)
106 Mazza, K - And the World Fell Apart: The Children of Incarcerated Fathers (2002) Families
in Society, 83:5/6, 521-529 [online] Available at
www.familiesinsociety.org/ShowDOIAbstract.asp?docid=61 (accessed 30.6.15) cited in Action
for Prisoners’ Families (2013) Facts and figures About Prisoners’ Families. [online] Available at
http://www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk/uploadedFiles/2010_Publications_And_Resources/Facts_an
d_figures_about_prisoners_families_June2013.pdf (accessed 30.6.15)
63
found that eighty per cent of children with an imprisoned father were said to have
behavioural difficulties (Noble 1995, cited by Boswell and Wedge 2002: 62).
Notwithstanding the possibility that those difficulties could have been the result of
family problems surfacing prior to the imprisonment, Murray (2005) notes that so far,
measures to test the effects of imprisonment on children of prisoners have been non-
standardised and unreliable (Murray 2005: 443). The effects of longitudinal loss can
therefore only be surmised, however, the lack of reliable measures does not change
the resulting behaviour.
CHAPTER CONCLUSION
This chapter has explored the research on the importance to children of a secure
attachment to a main carer for the possibility of later, secure adult relationships. The
possibility that insecure relationships can cause later disorganised attachments or
problems with reconciling bereavement, suggests the importance of good mothering.
However, contrasting theories propose that ‘good enough’ mothering is all that is
required to achieve this. Whether maternal attachments outweigh those of paternal and
other carers is a matter for discussion, however, the most important factor could be the
security of the attachment and the behaviour of the adult over the blood relationship. In
considering the effects of loss, Bowlby’s work with evacuees clarifies that children as
young as six months old can mourn a loss and this research is important for
understanding the need for adult support for very young bereaved children. However,
there is a possibility that embarrassed denial prevents adults discussing death with
children. To prevent cultural death-denial, Furman(1970) argues that ‘[I]t is important to
acquaint the small child with the facts about death so as to help him (sic) acquire a
realistic concept of death as a prerequisite to mastering his emotional response to
death (Furman 1970: 71). Furman is not alone in this premise. It is a view shared by
many professionals who work closely with children (Mallon 1998, Silverman 2000,
Leaman 1995, Ward 2004, Brown 1999).
Moreover, although children are exposed to media death, they are often removed from
real death and death rituals and are shrouded in half-truths and euphemisms from
adults. The importance of demystifying attitudes to children’s age-related
understanding of death concepts is relevant for encouraging wider death education,
and clear language, particularly in schools. Speece and Brent’s (1984) research into
understanding of death concepts reveals variability for when children understanding the
irrevocableness and irreversibility of death, and even that they will also die. Excluding
children from seeing dead bodies or attending funerals can encourage children’s own
64
denial of death from which they may believe that the dead live on elsewhere in a
different form, or are merely sleeping. Post-funeral support for children with disabilities
or special needs and looked after children are especially likely to be excluded and have
no adult or peers to discuss how they feel or what involvement they would prefer.
The above discussion details how bereavement ‘can cut right across children’s lives,
affecting their schooling as well as their health and well-being, not just immediately
following a death, but throughout their childhood and beyond’ (Penny 2006: 1).
However, notwithstanding the importance of death education, the effects on children of
so-called lesser losses, such as divorce or parental imprisonment can seriously
contribute to reduced wellbeing. Good internal and external support can help children
and adults overcome the loss associated with these events, reducing stress and
lessening the likelihood that children will suffer physical symptoms, or separation
anxiety from the remaining caregiver. However, the disinclination of parents to inform
schools, despite reports showing positive feedback from those parents who have done
so, perpetuates cultural embarrassment and preserves a further loss-related taboo.
Arguably, good death education and understanding of the effects of ‘lesser losses’ and
how these impact on children’s wellbeing, is as important as knowing how children
mourn and what help they need from adults. Thus, as well as attempting to answer
questions related to historical events and trends, and potentially useful resources,
experience as a primary school teacher in Southern England led to a strong hunch that
the situation locally was probably representative of a much wider geographical area
and that this merited investigation. The possibility that negligible death education is
affected by factors such as embarrassed denial, a culture that has individualised grief,
low finance, teachers’ workload and a lack of coherent policy suggested the advantage
of sending questionnaires to a sample of schools, thus providing quantitative research
to support and expand the qualitative findings from other chapters.
65
Chapter 3
INTER-DISCIPLINARY METHODOLOGIES
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
This study began with an intuition that primary school teachers are not sufficiently
supported or trained for helping bereaved pupils and that this deficiency affects their
own wellbeing and that of bereaved children. Whilst a lot of cultural discussion
regarding bereavement is death-related, the initial identification of a possible problem
in schools, and society in general, resulted from teaching a child bereaved from a so-
called lesser loss. This clarified that training for bereavement should also include
managing losses such as divorce, and parental imprisonment. Marshall and Rossman
(2006) support the feasibility of beginning research by problem solving, and forming a
conceptual framework by answering specific questions. They state that the ‘complex
process of conceptualizing, framing, and focusing a study typically begins with a
personally defined question or identified problem’ (Marshall and Rossman 2006: 31).
Research questions generated by the literature review
Listed below are the questions generated by the two literature review chapters, which
determined the shape of the thesis.
1. How has the historical trajectory of death and mourning outlined in the first
chapter, and the research into psychological aspects of death and loss
explored in chapter two, impacted on attitudes to death, mourning and other
losses and affected what teachers say to bereaved children? What are
schools doing to support teachers of bereaved children?
2. How are the attitudes to discussing death and loss discovered in chapters one
and two, reflected in the parallel trajectory of Children’s Literature? Does the
didacticism of nineteenth century children’s books reflect the way that children
were informed about death? Do the books of the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries equally reveal changing cultural attitudes?
3. Given the pattern of embarrassed denial and the known psychology of loss,
what could teachers, untrained as educational psychologists, practically do in
school to help bereaved children? Is there a possibility that the under-
researched area of bibliotherapy could be utilised?
4. If there are initiatives teachers could use, do the demands of teaching the
curriculum, behavioural issues, and the need for standard assessments allow
time for teachers to implement resources and if not, why not? In other words,
66
what is the policy climate in which death and loss education struggles for
recognition?
RESEARCH DESIGN
The best methodology design for collecting data was clearly an inter-disciplinary
approach. This allowed an analytical overview not only of how the current culture of
antipathy towards discussing death and loss has evolved, but also whether there was
any evidence that a culture of ‘embarrassed denial’ infiltrates and affects primary
education. Stember (1991) defines interdisciplinarity as ‘between two or more fields of
study’ (Stember 1991: 4, cited by Repko and Szostak 2014: 5) and Moran(2010)
upholds this definition (Moran 2010: 14). There are further definitions for the purpose
and meaning of inter-disciplinary studies, including those from: Rhoten, Boix-Mansilla,
Chun and Klein 2006: 3; Boix-Mansilla 2005: 16; and Newell 2007: 248, cited by Repko
and Szostak 2014: 13) however, the elected definition of ‘inter-disciplinary’ for social
world research will be that of Klein and Newell (1997). They define interdisciplinarity as
‘a process of answering a question, solving a problem, or addressing a topic that is too
broad or complex to be dealt with adequately by a single discipline’ (Klein and Newell
1997: 393, cited by Repko and Szostak 2014: 12). xxx
A further distinction is needed between ‘multi-disciplinary’ (Moran 2012: 14) which
Moran aligns with juxtaposed disciplines, such as joint-honours degrees (Moran 2010:
14) and ‘inter-disciplinary,’ with suggests the need to study several disciplines to arrive
at ‘an all-inclusive synthesis’ (Moran 2010: 14). For this reason, within the two literature
review chapters (history and psychology) and four chapters of findings (questionnaires,
children’s literature, bibliotherapy and educational policy) there are six distinct
epistemologies. Notwithstanding the inclusion of social science, the disciplines
covered are not epistemologically wide107, but distinctly within the school of arts and
humanities. Furthermore, the various disciplines synthesised in the research were
explicitly chosen for their capacity to inter-connect, complement and support each
other, not least from the examination of parallel trajectories of history and literature.
However, as the impact of other areas on the current position in schools was a
principal focus of the research, it was essential to include a trajectory of the
professional discipline of education and specifically educational policy. Although to
some extent all theses are influenced by other disciplines, Repko and Szostak (2014)
107 For example, modern languages and science.
67
commend a specifically inter-disciplinary approach. They note that although inter-
disciplinary studies depend on their constituent disciplines to inform research,
amalgamation produces new, and more comprehensive knowledge of real-world
problems108 (Vickers 1998: 34, cited by Repko and Szostak 2014: 10).Toynton (2005)
agrees that by examining connections between disciplines, the contribution to
knowledge is potentially more original, more profound and broader in character than a
single disciplinary approach (Toynton 2005, cited by Repko and Szostak 2014: 52).
Thus, the epistemological stance taken by using interdisciplinarity, provides not only a
better understanding of how the current situation in society and specifically schools has
transpired, but suggests what can be done to improve it. To clarify the choice of a post-
positivistic, interpretivist approach, using quantitative and qualitative methods, I now
clarify the reasons for the chosen paradigms, or theoretical framework, of the thesis.
Methodology for Literature Review
To form an idea of how present day attitudes to death, loss and mourning have
transpired, and to form a deeper understanding of people’s lived experiences (Marshall
and Rossman 2006: 55), and their possible impact on current attitudes, the decision
was made to review a trajectory of significant cultural changes, beginning with
nineteenth century rituals and assumptions made about Victorian death. Following this
line of enquiry, the effect of past ‘turning-points’ such as world wars, post-war eras,
secularisation and medicalisation were explored for their possible impact on current
attitudes to bereavement and mourning and the meaning of ‘good death’ and ‘bad
death’. This required an in depth study of scholarly writings, government reports, acts
and online documents. Despite some statistical differences, which can be explained by
noting the problems with interpretations of historical events, cross- examination of
similar data reflected a common acknowledgement that previous centuries were more
comfortable with discussing death and bereavement.
The research area of attachment theory and its relevance to mourning ensured an
understanding not only of how children grieve but also how some questionnaire
respondents might be affected by personal bereavements. By researching the ages at
which children understand different death concepts and the differences in how adults
and children show grief, a more authoritative basis could inform the quantitative
research. Furthermore, as loss as well as death is a focus, it enabled a deeper
understanding of the hidden losses suffered by children of parental divorce or
108 This was borne out by my paper at the joint 2009 Changing Childhood conference organised
by the Children’s Society, Diocese of Chichester and University of Chichester(2-4 July 2009).
68
imprisonment. To gain a comprehensive overview, journal papers, classic texts and
innovative studies were examined. The theory extracted was used to inform
questionnaires.
Methodology for Researching Death and Loss in Children’s Literature
The research on children’s literature was included to provide informative data on how
readers respond to particular books, how cultural events are reflected in book content,
and the possible effects of loss that motivate authors. The infrastructure of the thesis
forms a conceptual framework that explores an overview of how Britain has evolved
from being mostly at ease with bereavement in the nineteenth century, to
predominantly death-denying in the twenty-first century109. Furthermore, it explores
how the circumstances affecting the social construct of ‘embarrassed denial’ have
affected the policy for lack of provision for death education for children and teachers. A
purposive sample of ten books, representative of different eras from the nineteenth
century to the twenty-first, was chosen to explore how death and loss in children’s
literature reflects Britain’s cultural changes. Arguably, although recognised as
children’s books, neither the implied adult reader nor the impact of bereavement on the
author should be disregarded.
Nonetheless, for this chapter, they are referred to as books for children. Two analysed
titles 110 focus on helping children deal with divorce, and one111 of the eight books
analysed with a theme of death is a translation of an English text. It was chosen to
demonstrate that cross-cultural attitudes to including children in discussions of death
can differ, even within the same century. In keeping with the interpretive paradigm of
the methodology, a qualitative analysis explored the themes in the conceptual
framework. The huge number of books available for the sample, required sorting
criteria, based on genres and underpinned by the themes arising from the historical
and psychological literature reviewed:
Nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century fiction with a theme of loss;
Didactic books portraying a religious ‘good death;’
Extended, moralistic fables;
Fantasy texts;
Picture books;
109 Notwithstanding the distinction between ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ death, theorised in chapter
one.
110 Two Homes; It’s not Your Fault Koko Bear.
111 Granpa (trans. as Mein Opa und ich)
69
Books with text;
Books with no text;
Books with themes of unresolved loss written by authors bereaved as children;
Links to attachment theories, object-relations, reality testing and mother loss;
The theme of Home;
Translation;
Divorce.
Presenting an analysis of past and current books with themes of loss not only
supported the historical trajectory evidenced in the literature review, but also helped
create a platform of knowledge from which to discuss the appropriateness of using fairy
tales in schools, for bibliotherapeutic problem-solving.
Methodology for Researching Practising Teachers
Paradigms
The ontological principle underpinning the thesis assumes that the interaction between
the social world and its inhabitants is flexible, rather than fixed and scientifically
quantifiable (Oakley 2000, cited by Thomas 2013: 111). A positivistic paradigm,
whereby outcomes are proven through testing hypotheses (McGregor and Murnane
2010: 5; Robson 2011: 21), was considered inappropriate for exploring the strength of
an intuitive idea with no hypothesis. Post-positivistic interpretivism maintains that the
social phenomena of the world cannot exist separately without interpretation, making
objective analysis impossible (Repko 2011: 468). Rather than numbers, percentages
and measured statistics, interpretivism relies upon ‘the voice of the researcher and
participants in the study’ (McGregor and Murnane 2010: 6). Taking this into account,
the use of a post-positivistic paradigm was considered the best design for data to be
amassed from the voiced experiences of past and current generations. Moreover,
interpretivism presumes that meanings from events and experiences will be
constructed by social actors within their own world (Bryman 1988: 20, cited by Jupp
2006: 202; Schutz 1954, cited by Radnor 2002: 9). As cultures historically change, and
social actors evolve, so social reality and what is acceptable constantly shifts.
An interpretivist paradigm therefore enabled a comprehensive overview of two sources
of data: qualitative data and the quantitative data analysed qualitatively. However,
despite interpretivists aiming to remain ‘fair-minded, neutral observers’ (Thomas 2013:
70), it would be difficult to entirely change the value position of a teacher-researcher
working in the field of education. Consequently, the study strives for trustworthiness
70
(McGregor and Murnane 2010: 6) when interpreting historical and quantitative data.
Table One clarifies the main differences between earlier positivist, and more recent
interpretivist paradigms.
TABLE THREE: Positivism and Interpretivism
POSITIVISM
INTERPRETIVISM
The social world can be studied
objectively.
Knowledge is everywhere and can be
socially constructed.
The methods of natural science are
appropriate in social science.
All kinds of information are valid and
worthy of the name ‘knowledge’, even
things ‘of the mind’.
General accounts inform the specific.
Specific accounts inform each other.
The act of trying to know ought to be
conducted in such a way that the
knower’s own value position is removed
from the process.
The act of trying to know should be
conducted such that the knower’s own
value position is taken into account in the
process.
Content taken from Thomas (2013: 107)
Having decided on a post-positivistic, interpretive paradigm as the most useful and
appropriate design, the methods used for accruing data are now discussed.
Method for questionnaires
Newton and Benz conclude that the purpose of research is the ‘search for knowledge
(or “truth”)’ (Newman and Benz 1998: 11). The two dominant paradigms for this
purpose are epistemologically dichotomous. Quantitative methods are characterised by
positivism, and measure evidence statistically. Qualitative methods, using mainly post-
positivistic approaches, aim to interpret and understand society in the same way as the
people within it (Katsirikou and Skiadas 2010: 9) without the need for statistics.
Although quantitative research remains useful for emphasising measurable evidence
(ibid.) the possibility that humans construct reality from the ‘value-laden nature of
human social interactions’ (Newman and Benz 1998: 5) casts doubt on the
effectiveness of singularly mathematical measures. Furthermore, Repko (2011) notes
that a misconception of qualitative research is that valid results can only be produced
from quantitative statistics (Repko 2011: 208). Ultimately Newton and Benz (1998)
claim that rather than choosing between quantitative and qualitative methods, a
combination of both (Newton and Benz 1998: 12) is the most effective approach.
As the best means of addressing practical problems were sought, a goal advocated by
Denscombe (2010: 149), both methods were used. For clarification, there is no
suggestion that the research claims a ‘mixed methods approach’. This would have
required qualitative findings to share ‘complementary strengths’ (Cresswell and Plano
71
Clark [2007](2011), cited by Katsirikou and Skiados 2010: 12) with quantitative
findings, achieving ‘a transformation of the data and their analyses through the other
approach’ (ibid. 2010: 11). As significantly more data is qualitative, the strengths are
not complementary in ratio; however, questionnaires were used effectively to broaden
the knowledge base. This included addressing concepts from the literature review,
such as the current definition of a ‘good death’ and the possibility that ‘embarrassed
denial’ is prevalent in British culture,112 affecting the policy and practice for managing
bereavement in primary schools. In line with interpretivism, teachers’ feelings on
teaching bereaved children added data to a neglected field. Although some data was
statistical, and quantitative, for example how many teachers had taught bereaved
children or had attended death and loss training; information from respondents was
mostly interpreted qualitatively in keeping with a post-positivistic paradigm.
The approach to the research can be seen to be inductive, rather than deductive.
Although some statistics emerged, a hypothesis was not being tested positivistically.
Experimental, measured statistics were not employed to test a theory (Wisker 2008:
210), and variables were not measured by using an instrument to obtain scores ‘with
the objective of testing a theory rather than developing it’ (Cresswell 2014: 59). Data
were used qualitatively, looking for emerging patterns, themes and trends. The table
below shows the differences in the two approaches.
TABLE FOUR: Contrasting inductive and deductive methods
Inductive
Deductive
Past generalisations presented from
past literature or experience.
A hypothesis is formed and tested or a
theory is verified.
Broad patterns, generalisations or
theories looked for, from themes or
categories.
The theory is used to test the hypothesis
or research questions.
Researcher analyses the data to form
categories and themes.
Measurable variables, such as
characteristics, are defined and used
from theory.
Researcher asks open-ended
questions.
Variables are measured or observed
using an instrument to obtain scores.
Information is gathered, which can be
used for interviews.
Adapted from Cresswell (2014: 59 and 66)
112 Christian and secular
72
A further approach discounted was grounded theory, as themes and ideas were
already emerging from the literature review before the data were analysed. In grounded
theory, the expectation is that theory will be entirely generated from data (Glaser and
Strauss 1967: 3, cited by Cohen, Manion and Morrison 2007: 492). The inductive
methodology therefore looked for patterns, generalisations, themes and categories that
could be seen across the theory in the field of past literature, and the findings from
more current data. From the paradigm used, all knowledge was considered valuable
and in accord with the interpretivist paradigm, quantitative data was employed to
increase specific accounts that could inform each other. Further support for using some
quantitative data comes from the discussion above that research is unquestionably
value-laden. To address this shortcoming, triangulation was used (Hussey and Hussey
2003, cited by Wisker 2008: 68), whereby more than one type of data converged from
more than one source (Hewson 2006: 180). However, it should be noted, that due to its
age the data are by no means more important than other more recent thesis elements
and should therefore be reviewed as a support to increased validity. The next section
will expand the approach taken to acquiring quantitative data, by outlining the
methodology for questionnaires, starting with the sample constituents.
Sampling: geography
In keeping with this mainly qualitative study, a purposive sample of thirteen schools
within the geographical area ‘A’ of a county in Southern England (which was then
largely homogenous with regard to ethnicity) was preferred to a random sample. A
random sample might not have contained schools employing more than three teachers,
making a higher probability of some schools returning a null response. At the time of
sending the questionnaires, in 2009, ‘Free Schools’113 were not available to sample.
Given the limitations on the size of the study, the purposive sample focused on schools
within a thirty-minute drive from the nucleus of the sampled area, which is classed as a
region made up of mainly rural towns and villages114. The distance was a decisive
factor in sampling, as in the original introductory letter to headteachers, I had offered to
visit schools to present the questionnaires at staff meetings, and give more information
to participants.
113 ‘Free Schools’ are independent non-profit making, state-funded schools. [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/increasing-the-number-of-academies-and-free-schools-
to-create-a-better-and-more-diverse-school-system/supporting-pages/free-schools (accessed
27.4.15)
114 County Profile 2012
73
I also hoped it might be possible to interview respondents at a later date, making it
essential to select schools that I could easily reach after a school day. Marshall and
Rossman assert that the efficiency of a study relies partly on the researcher’s ability to
increase the opportunity for full responses to questions balanced against the time and
energy available to the researcher (Marshall and Rossman 2006: 77). Within the
sampled area, most schools were primary, with only five infant and four junior. The
purposive sample therefore represented a roughly similar ratio of school types by
selecting one junior, two infant and eleven primary.
Sampling: teachers
Cresswell (2014) defines the use of ‘purposefully selected participants’ (Cresswell
2014: 189) as those most beneficial for providing an understanding of the research
questions (Cresswell 2014: 189). Despite already having commented that there is an
imbalance of genders amongst primary school teachers, it was decided that the sample
should not deliberately contain a stratification characteristic (Cresswell and Plano Clark
[2007] 2011: 175) of predominantly female staff. This information, and the number of
children on the roll (NOR) was available from school web sites. Schools selected
comprised male and female staff, in case the variable of gender showed a particular
trend in the questionnaire replies. The ratio of males to females was not in equal
proportion to that of the wider population (Cresswell 2014: 159) however, it was in
keeping with the population of teachers, represented by far more female than male
teachers. Equally, the number of female headteachers outnumbered the male
headteachers, with eight females and five male, reflective of the lower numbers of
males choosing primary teaching.
Moreover, only teachers and headteachers were asked to contribute to the study. It is
possible that had I suggested to gatekeepers that teaching assistants could complete
questionnaires, the overall response rate would have been higher. However, it was
equally possible that in suggesting assistants contribute data, some teachers could
relinquish interest and not feel it necessary to respond. Furthermore, the literature
informing the questionnaires had not explored the role of teaching assistants in
schools. Although widely expected to use their initiative, teaching assistants work
under the jurisdiction of class teachers’ guidance for how bereavement should be
approached with children.
74
Sampling: religious affiliation
Given the relevance of changing religious views to the research, it was important to
represent schools of the religious affiliations available in the chosen area, represented
by a heterogeneous sample of secular, Roman Catholic (R.C.) or Church of England
(C. of E.). In the sampled area there were no Muslim, Jewish, Hindu or Sikh schools115
(indeed there are still none in the entire local authority 116). Whilst the homogeneity of
the geographical area suggested that similar, county level death education training
would have been available to all respondents, it was possible that for church schools,
diocesan affiliation was an additional factor in training provision. Having clarified the
purposive sample, the next section will discuss the process of gathering data,
beginning with the question format.
Question format
Closed
As stated, interpretivist paradigms consider all knowledge as valuable. Including closed
questions, multiple choice questions and open-ended questions on questionnaires
reinforced this theory. From the one hundred questionnaires sent to a sample of
thirteen schools, quantitative data was gathered from fifty measureable closed
questions, allowing contrasts to be made between answers across the sample
(Oppenheim 1992: 115, cited by Cohen, Manion and Morrison 2007: 321). Closed
questions were reserved for sections requiring largely quantitative data in which an
opinion was not sought, such as age, gender, religion, school denomination and
whether death and loss training had taken place in the last three years. Robson (2011)
suggests the use of a clear ‘frame of reference’ (Robson 2011: 256) and for this reason
some closed questions related to ranges of specified time periods (Robson 2011: 256).
Furthermore, questions relating to areas which might be thought too invasive, such as
respondents’ ages, were in groupings of age ranges. Multiple-choice questions were
mostly accompanied by prompts, to reduce the amount of writing required by
respondents and to clarify the question area. This strategy is discussed in the chapter
on Questionnaire Findings.
115 statistics Available at http://www.schoolwebindex.com/england/**********.php?religion=J
[online] (accessed 3.11.14)
116 Directory of primary schools. [Online] Available at
http://www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk/leasearch.php?lea=**********&where=1&submit=Submit
(accessed 30.4.15)
75
Open
Thirteen more open questions encouraged respondents to potentially reveal ‘“gems” of
information that otherwise might not be caught in the questionnaire’ (Cohen, Manion
and Morrison 2007: 330). The respondents were directed to an overleaf space,
allowing them to expand an answer. Detailing experiences in written comments
provided answers to be analysed inductively for recurring patterns and themes.
However, whilst Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2007: 321) note that open-ended
questions allow respondents to qualify their response, they also warn that very broad
replies can discourage respondents from answering particular questions, due to the
time taken to reply. Nonetheless, Thomas (2013) suggests that open questions allow
for central concerns to be communicated (Thomas 2013: 208). This likelihood can be
endorsed by examining questions requiring qualification, as some teachers’ replies
were more forthcoming and conversational than for other areas. Content for these
areas related either to respondents’ personal biographies; their own bereavement
experiences as children or adults; or their professional life at school. Each headed
section contained numbered and sub-numbered questions for ease of researcher
analysis.
Multiple choice
A few questions were multiple-choice, and asked respondents to choose from options
or prompts. Examples are questions twenty-seven to thirty-one. These questions asked
teachers to state the religion of some bereaved children they had taught; and should
the children have experienced a death, teachers were asked to state the child’s relation
to the deceased. If it was a different manner of bereavement, they were asked to
specify the loss. Similarly, question thirty-eight was presented a multiple choice of grief
symptoms to select from. It could be argued that some of the closed-answer questions
were multiple-choice, as they did not allow expansion.
Data gathering
Pilot group
It was decided that before sending questionnaires to the sampled schools, advice
should be sought from a pilot group. Maxwell (2013) commends the function of a pilot
study and refers to an earlier example from Light, Singer and Willet (1990) stating that
all designs can be improved by ‘a prior, small-scale exploratory study’ (Light, Singer
and Willet 1990: 213, cited by Maxwell 2013: 66). Initially, a pilot group was not
planned for, but became increasingly sensible as the thesis evolved and Robson(2011)
agrees that the first stage of data gathering should involve the use of a pilot group and
76
that in flexible designs (Robson 2011: 405) where the research design develops during
the research, this is often a small group who can give feedback (Thomas 2013: 215).
Consequently, two months before finalising and posting questionnaires to schools, a
pilot-group was approached. This was a class of around ten teachers, from schools
known to be outside of the purposive sample, who were studying for an M.A. in
Education.
Their feedback informed the decision to make some changes to the questionnaire
question order, prioritising the question asking respondents to comment on their
understanding of a ‘good death’. It also allowed the opportunity to revise any
misleading questions. The pilot group encountered problems with completing question
thirty-seven, which asked respondents to comment on how discussing losses with
particular children was for them and what would have helped them. The wording of that
question was subsequently altered for clarification. A further decision made was that
the questionnaires would be on yellow paper. This was to easily distinguish the
questionnaires from the large volume of white paper in teacher’s ‘pigeon-holes’117 and
so increase the chance of a better response.
Shortly after completing the pilot study, I attended a county-run course for literacy and
encountered a teacher who had been part of the pilot group. The teacher recognised
my name and suggested that I should include on my letter to schools the number of
words required for the research. It was suggested to me that clarifying for participants
the extent of the work involved in writing the thesis could elevate the importance of the
study and increase response rate. On reflection, the subsequent letter to headteachers
included this information. A further request from the same teacher was that I should
include her school in the final sample. This was because the school had experienced
the death of a child without any policy, plan or whole school agreement in place; a
situation the teacher realised was unhelpful to the teachers. This conversation
confirmed the usefulness and necessity of the research. As the research was
anonymous, and the intention of a purposive sample is to improve understanding of the
researched situation, I did not reveal whether the discussed school would be in the
sample, but added the name to the list. However, before sending questionnaires to
schools, the ethics of the research was explored and permission sought.
117 post-boxes
77
Ethics
The original ethics form detailed the possibility that two separate questionnaires would
be sent to each school in the sample. The first would include a range of questions
related to teachers’ personal and professional biography and their personal experience
of bereavement. The second questionnaire would ask questions about their experience
of using books for helping bereaved children. This data was to contribute to the gap in
British research about using developmental bibliotherapy for bereaved children in
primary schools. However, from personal experience of teaching, it was later decided
that the workload of respondents would make them unwilling to complete two forms,
and all questions requiring analysis were amalgamated into a single questionnaire.
Informed consent
To reduce respondent sensitivity, and in accord with Hudson and Miller (Hudson and
Miller 1997, cited by Cohen, Manion and Morrison 2007: 157) the nature and
importance of the research was mentioned on the introductory letters to teachers.
Furthermore, all respondents were ensured of anonymity; were alerted to the
opportunity to withdraw from the study at any time, and were made aware that the
information supplied would only be used for research. I included the address of my
school and my personal email address and telephone number, should any respondent
wish to contact me for further details. Additionally, their informed consent was
requested and they were reminded that completing the questionnaire was voluntary.
Marshall and Rossman (2007) state that ethical considerations of anonymity and
informed consent should be typical in any qualitative research (Marshall and Rossman
2007: 82). Consequently, although some data was quantitative, and despite this study
being non-participatory in that no researcher was in situ, the same code of ethics was
employed as good practice.
Second ethics form
In the penultimate year of the thesis, it was decided to update specific, original data. A
second ethics form was therefore completed before a further letter was sent to
headteachers, in mid-2014. This was to ascertain whether the sample schools had
since written a whole-school policy explicitly for day-to-day death and loss education.
The letter made clear the rationale for the content of a death and loss education policy,
to differentiate it from a critical incident policy and so avert any mis-understanding of
the question being asked (see appendix). The original sample of schools was
approached, and the headteachers asked to forward their policy, should one exist.
Headteachers could delete their school name should they wish to preserve anonymity,
78
which is ethically in line with the good practice included in the Data Protection Act 1998
(Chapter 29, part 4, section 33: 1-5)118 and in keeping with the thesis approach.
However, before making this request, all school web sites were carefully checked for
any new headteachers, so that letters were correctly addressed.
All schools had the option to post or email any existing policies either to me or to the
Head of the school of Primary Education at the University of Chichester, within two
weeks of the request. It was assumed that as the head of primary education was
known to them, from school partnerships with ITE, the headteachers would be eager to
confirm if their school had a policy and if I received no reply, it could be assumed that
none existed. Several headteachers replied that they did not have one, and the
remainder chose the option to not reply.
Gatekeepers for questionnaires
Robson (2011) emphasises that to elicit a reasonable response rate it is vital to include
a covering letter (Robson 2011: 256), so a letter for teachers alongside a separate one
only for headteachers, was sent to all headteachers with the pack of questionnaires.
This allowed the headteachers to act as ‘gatekeepers’ so that respondents could be
forewarned of ‘sensitive’ subject matter. The use of gatekeepers to access groups that
might be vulnerable is a procedure validated by Robson (2011: 211). However,
conversely, Robson (2011) notes that the over-protectiveness of gatekeepers can
prevent participants from taking part, thus affecting research detrimentally (Robson
2011: 211), resulting in non-response bias. One headteacher replied on behalf of his
staff that the school would ‘not be interested’ in contributing to the study, and that
teachers were not to be given an opportunity to complete questionnaires. Whether the
headteacher was being obstructive or protective is debatable. However, whilst Cohen,
Manion and Morrison (2007) state that coercing respondents to complete
questionnaires is not ethical (2007: 317) it could be argued that neither is it ethical to
refuse them the opportunity to do so, but clearly this was out of my hands.
Non-response bias
The aim of this research was to contribute to, and fill the gaps, in research into how
primary school teachers cope with children bereaved from death and loss on a daily
basis. The focus of the sample was therefore not pupils, but the headteachers and
teachers, and as such, the ethics review for the study related to adults. Despite one
118 Great Britain. Data Protection Act 1998 (Chapter 29, part 4, section 33:1-5) [online] Available
at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/section/33 (accessed 21.4.15).
79
headteacher emailing me refusing to help, with no reason given, it was not thought
likely that respondents would be unduly distressed at receiving questionnaires, beyond
that which they would normally experience in their work. Similarly, returning the
questionnaires was made as easy as possible, and stamped addressed envelopes
were included with all questionnaires. Some schools chose to return replies via the
inter-schools posting system, known as the ‘black bag,’ possibly because this saved a
trip to the post office.
Having considered the need to explore bereavement and although confident of the
ethics surrounding inclusion of questions relating to death, it was possible that some
grieving teachers could cause non-response bias by avoiding those questions.
Moreover, I have discussed the possible ‘taboo’ still surrounding invisible deaths, and
note Farberow (Farberow 1963) who equates sensitive topics with areas of life that are
‘surrounded by taboo’ (Farberow 1963, cited by Lee 1993: 3). It is possible to agree
with Lee, that in what I might very broadly characterise as ‘British culture’, there is an
element of potential problems for researchers investigating topics ‘laden with emotion’
(Ibid.) which upholds the use of gatekeepers.
Interviews
Unfortunately, although four teachers provisionally agreed in principle to an interview,
they declined a specific invitation at a later date. As respondents had neither included
their e-mail address on the relevant part of the questionnaire nor e-mailed me to
indicate their continuing interest, a second letter had to be posted to headteachers so
that teachers could contact me should they still agree to an interview (See appendix). It
is impossible to say with certainty why teachers would not be interviewed. It was
however, unsurprising, given the theme of embarrassed denial revealed in the literature
review and findings, and the heavy workload of primary school teachers. Whilst
teachers have always claimed this, the situation is emphasised in recent DoE research
(February 2015) about reducing unnecessary workload in schools119. Nonetheless, the
questionnaires were intended to inform follow-up, semi-structured interviews with
respondents, in an attempt to gather more detail (Cresswell 2014: 19). Such interviews
rely on discussion of pre-planned topics, with the inclusion of unplanned questions,
based on the interviewee’s responses (Robson 2011: 280). Although the lack of
119 DoE (2015) Workload Challenge: Analysis of Teacher consultation Responses. Research
Report. [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/401406/RR445_-
_Workload_Challenge_-_Analysis_of_teacher_consultation_responses._FINAL.pdf (accessed
30.4.15)
80
response meant that interviews did not occur, the ethics of interviewing respondents
was researched, to be employed after receipt of completed questionnaires (see
appendix).
Methodology for Evaluation of Bibliotherapy
The use of story and problem-solving is already imbedded in the curriculum, as is the
inclusion of fairy-tales, as seen in chapter five; but the use of bibliotherapy in primary
schools for problem-solving is under-researched in Britain. Its inclusion in the thesis is
therefore relevant for three main reasons: to make an original contribution to
knowledge, to fill gaps in knowledge, and to add to and support the discussed research
suggesting that bereaved children can be helped via the curriculum. A scrutiny of the
research in the field not only confirmed British bibliotherapeutic research as a
neglected area, hence justifying its inclusion as a chapter, but also enabled a
description of different categories of bibliotherapy. This verified that developmental
bibliotherapy was the most applicable process for teachers to use. By inductively
analysing data from theorists and practitioners outside of Britain who have successfully
implemented the bibliotherapeutic process (Pardeck and Pardeck 1984: 3, cited by
Schlenther 1999: 30), significant information was gathered. This informed the
questionnaire section asking teachers if they used books with bereaved children.
However, in keeping with the inductive model and the interdisciplinary design of the
thesis, questions in this area were not based on only the research on bibliotherapy.
The assumption that bereaved children could be helped to problem solve through the
Identification process outlined in the bibliotherapy chapter, draws support from several
inter-linking thesis areas, including:
the ideology of reader-response in the Children’s Literature chapter;
the past and recent research into the psychology of loss in chapter two;
research on the use of fairy tales for problem solving in chapter four;
the research of the primary curriculum in chapter five, and the researcher’s
professional-practice knowledge from teaching Key Stage one.
The inclusion of bibliotherapy research is both innovative and appropriate to the
research into death education, and for the suggestion that teachers who are not
educational psychologists could incorporate part of the process into the classroom.
81
Methodology for Analysing Educational Policy
A significant area within the thesis is the lack of training for teachers for the daily
management of bereaved children from the scant provision of death and loss
education, through either ITT120 or CPD121. To gain a broader picture of how the
situation has emerged, the history of educational policy was examined following a
trajectory from 1870 to 2015, parallel to that of the literature review and the analysis of
children’s literature. The interpretivist methodology underpinning this chapter concedes
the subjectivity of the researcher’s own value position in collecting data, suggesting the
importance of reading as many different types of documentary evidence as possible.
Hence, a range including: Select Committee Reports; Acts of Parliament; Ofsted
Inspection Acts, once-funded government initiatives and the new primary curriculum
(DoE 2014) were examined for their cumulative influence on primary school policy. This
wide reading suggested a significant finding of the thesis to be the possibility that
‘embarrassed denial’ remains an over-riding factor in under-provision for death and
loss education in schools.
However, with the exception of some more recent studies, Crenshaw (1995) Eiser et
al122 (1995), Bowie (2000) Holland (2001), Jackson and Colwell (2002) Rowling (2003)
and Potts (2013) past educational research has largely focused on teachers’ personal
attitudes to death, rather than their classroom practice in managing bereaved children.
Consequently, areas evolving from the analysis of policy led to specific questionnaire
questions, allowing teachers to state their experiences and feelings about speaking
with bereaved children thus contributing data to an under-researched area.
CHAPTER CONCLUSION
The problem of why there is negligible death and loss education in primary schools is a
real-world problem, and as such, an inter-disciplinary paradigm was the best design for
research. It presented the most appropriate medium for answering the questions
transpiring from the literature review, and suggested the most plausible method for
analysing data from other complementary chapters. The employment of an inter-
disciplinary approach has allowed the thesis to raise social world issues, explore their
effect on the micro-culture of primary education and so broaden and enrich the area of
teacher research. A post-positivist inductive paradigm was chosen for examining
related but distinct epistemologies to accrue as much information as possible for
120 Initial Teacher Training
121 Continuing Professional Development
122 Eiser C., Havermans T., Rolph P. and Rolph J. (1995)
82
exploring how and why the situation of embarrassed denial exists in British culture123,
and the micro-culture of schools.
However, as there are limitations of post-positivist research, which confirms truth from
only one piece of research (Robson 2011: 23) it was wise to follow advice from
Robson (2011) who suggests that should other studies find similar truths, there can
exist greater confidence in the results acquired (ibid.). For this reason, reference has
been made to past and recent research with a similar conceptual framework and also
using an inductive approach to explore the situation in schools. This enabled
comparison, and confirmation of the trustworthiness of the methodology. Research by
Crenshaw (1995) Eiser et al (1995), Bowie (2000), Holland (2001), Jackson and
Colwell (2002), Rowling (2003) and Potts (2013) collectively reveals that primary
schools are not all adequately supporting teachers and pupils in death and loss
education. Furthermore, as the thesis began with an intuition, rather than a hypothesis,
a positivist paradigm was inappropriate, and scientific testing unnecessary for
generating trustworthy data, as found from the two data-gathering methods employed.
By realising that qualitative and quantitative methods were not necessarily
dichotomous, but could be used as complementary vehicles for gathering data, a
broader database evolved, enriching the thesis. The use of an inter-disciplinary, post-
positivist and inductive approach using different methods of data gathering is therefore
upheld as the most appropriate design for the research.
123 Not necessarily non-Christian.
83
Chapter 4
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF THE
TREATMENT OF DEATH AND LOSS IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
I have already explored the detrimental effects on British society124 of cultural death
denial and it is suggested that ‘embarrassed denial’ can prevent adults discussing
death with children. The content of more recent ‘compassion’ books’125 suggests that
whilst more children’s literature is now more likely to allude to death, particular deaths
remain unnamed126, suggesting that denial of terminal illness has become a specific
embarrassment. An examination of some classic children’s stories suggests that
nineteenth and very early twentieth century authors were more at ease with writing
about death and mourning, and the likelihood is that it was once generally acceptable
to discuss death with children. Having previously outlined the effects of world wars and
religious secularisation on changes in attitudes towards mourning, and the
consequential decline in openly discussing deaths, this chapter will explore whether the
changing perception of ‘good death’ is substantiated from children’s literature. Also
examined will be whether authors’ experiences of childhood bereavements are
revealed through metaphoric language in stories. The difference between texts and
picture books with themes of loss will also be discussed.
As ‘most studies of death in children’s literature have been descriptive rather than
analytic’ (Moore and Mae 1987: 54, citing Kimmel 1980), the analysis of some loss-
related book content fills gaps in knowledge in the fields of English, history and
education. A particularly valuable contribution to the thesis is an analysis of books
depicting child-attended death ritual and the classic books referred to will be
representative of different eras to reflect changing cultural views: The Fairchild Family
(Sherwood [1818]); Jessica’s First Prayer (Stretton [1861]); Peter Pan and Wendy
(Barrie [1911]); The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Lewis [1950]); Tom’s Midnight
Garden (Pearce [1958]); The Snowman (Briggs [1978] 2013); the translated Granpa
(Burningham 1984a; Burningham and Korschunow 1984b) and the more recent
picture-book The Copper Tree (Robinson and Stanley 2013). Also examined are two
books for children of divorce: Two Homes (Masurel 2002) and It’s Not Your Fault, Koko
124 This is a statement not necessarily representative of all religions in Britain.
125 Books written to help children overcome trauma.
126 Unless specifically written for a charity such as Winston’s Wish.
84
Bear (Lansky and Prince 1998). I begin with discussing a short history of changing
children’s literature.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Adult and child
Holmes (2012) asserts that ‘the term “children’s literature” has been the site of conflict
almost from its inception as a category’ (Holmes 2012: 133). Although there is now a
clear demarcation between adult and children’s fiction (with the exception of cross-over
fiction127) the separation of adult and children’s books within the genre was originally
unnecessary. The earliest stories were oral, and intended as much for adults as for
children. They were most likely short, fictional tales with ‘a specific moral or behavioural
lesson to teach’ (Grenby 2009: 10) and as such helped maintain a cultural equilibrium.
Oral stories were essential, as compulsory schooling for children aged five to ten years
was not legislated until 1880, before which there was widespread illiteracy. For those
children who could read, books primarily intended for adults such as Pilgrim’s Progress
(Bunyan 1678) were among the limited texts available.
Fables
In the late seventeenth century, children were culturally perceived as small adults. The
philosopher John Locke (1693) aimed for childhood to be seen instead as a unique
developmental stage of growth. In his ground-breaking essay Thoughts Concerning
Education (Locke 1693, cited by Darton 1982: 17), Locke suggests that adults have a
responsibility to educate children; an assertion that has to some extent remained
tangible in British culture. Although fables were originally written for adults (Grenby
2009: 11) Aesop’s Fables was one of only two books proposed by Locke as fit for
children to read (Grenby 2009: 13) as the instructional stories were thought an
appropriate way for children to learn simple lessons (Whitley 1997, cited by Grenby
2009: 16). Whitley (1997) argues that from the mid-eighteenth century, authors
influenced by Locke explored fables as a means to teaching children to work out the
lessons for themselves (ibid.). They can therefore be considered early problem solvers,
reflecting cultural and moral expectations while simultaneously helping to perpetuate
them.
As Patterson(1991) maintains that the fable message ‘must always be understood in
its social-historical context’ (Patterson 1991, cited by Zipes 2012: 13) fables are
127 See Reynolds (2005: 37).
85
relevant to discuss for their influence on past culture. However, although from the
eighteenth century the success of fables categorises them as ‘children’s literature’
(Grenby 2009: 13) it was not until the mid-eighteenth century, following the increase in
personal attention given to children’s needs (Rustin and Rustin 2001: 5) that books for
children became a recognised genre (Darton 1982: 1; Ariès 1962, cited by Rustin and
Rustin 2001: 5). From their content, books with moral messages can be seen as
examples of extended fables, (one of these being The Fairchild Family), an analysis of
which follows.
NINETEENTH-CENTURY BOOKS
Books for improvement
The need for children’s books to be both educational and moral was undoubtedly
influenced by socio-historical events, well exemplified by nineteenth-century
Evangelicalism128. Following requests from the Sunday Schools, Evangelicalism
brought about an increase in the publication of religious tracts. Their prime aim was to
‘improve the characters of the young’ (Houlbrooke 1989: 136) and as can be seen from
what follows, portray death as a ‘happy release from earthly suffering’ (Houlbrooke
1989: 141). This is understandable, as the highest number of infant deaths ever
recorded occurred at the end of the nineteenth century, with 220 children dying out of
every 1000 births129 (Reynolds 1994: 16). The author Stretton’s central characters were
always uncorrupted and pure (see The Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature, Zipes
2005: 533), including the protagonist in best-selling Jessica’s First Prayer [Stretton:
[1861]; [1867](2009).
The Fairchild Family
Good death
The Fairchild Family (Sherwood 1818) details the early nineteenth-century, cultural
expectation that children could die young. It demonstrates the belief that God-fearing
children, obedient to parents, would have a ‘good death’ or a ‘happy death’ (see
Sherwood 1818: 286). Reynolds (2005) asserts ‘it is a book which regarded children as
the products of original sin’ (Reynolds 2005: 39) and is full of religious instruction and a
128 The Religious Tract Society (RTS) was founded in 1799 and by 1810 was targeting children
(Grenby 2009: 213).
129 This figure relates to the first year of life.
86
‘modality’ 130 that assumes the reader shares the writer’s viewpoint (Reynolds 2005:
39). It is therefore a good example of a book shaped by, and shaping, culture. The
extended fable is ‘vigorously and persuasively moralistic’ (Watson, Bearne and Styles
1992: 14) and the language is unashamedly Evangelical and unswervingly didactic131:
‘Oh mama,’ said Emily, ‘what a naughty girl I have been! ...I thought God would
take no notice of my sin. But I was much mistaken. His eye was upon me all the
time…When I was ill I might have died.’ (Sherwood 1818: 66)
Sherwood weaves a story around an extended sermon, with the instruction for
achieving a ‘good death’ written as much for the adult as the child. Doubtless,
Sherwood is reflecting the culture of the early nineteenth century as much as she is
shaping it. The book is littered with references to dying and death, with three main
examples being the death of an old man, of the child Augusta and of little Charles
Trueman. Furthermore, the book clarifies that in early nineteenth-century Britain,
children commonly participated in death ritual. There is no suggestion of any
unusualness or taboo in children attending funerals or viewing a corpse,
notwithstanding the advanced decay in the one visited described as, ‘a kind of
disagreeable smell, such as they never had smelt before’ (Sherwood1818: 14).
In contrast with many later books published for children, in which the virtue of a
Swallows and Amazons (Ransome: 1930) 132 Arcadia seems mandatory to happy
childhood, the dying protagonists in Sherwood’s nineteenth-century book are mostly
children. The importance of putting oneself last, and God first, is exemplified in
Augusta’s death. Despite her worldly wealth, Augusta is disobedient and meets an
early death from burning. The book clarifies that worse than the pain of burning, (surely
suggestive of hell-fire), is the fact that Augusta dies knowing ‘nothing of the evil of her
own heart, and nothing of the Redeemer, nor of the sin of disobedience to her parents’
(Sherwood 1818: 159), resulting in a ‘bad death.’ In contrast to the erring Augusta, the
‘happy death’ of pious and aptly named Charles Trueman, whose illness purportedly
begins at the time of Augusta’s death, is recorded in detail, ending with Charles’ pious
130 Modality is a term used to explain how an author uses persuasive language to convince the
reader, e.g. ‘Clearly, this is the case;’ ‘As you can see…’
131 The term ‘didactic’ is most popularly explained as ‘teaching’, i.e. the book is instructional and
sets out to teach the reader (See Hunt 1994: 3), although it can also mean ‘informative’.
132 A 1930 adventure book by Arthur Ransome.
87
thought ‘I will be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness’ (Sherwood 1818: 298). Not
only does Charles reveal that he knows he will soon die, but in keeping with the piety of
Evangelism, Henry reassures him ‘you will be happier in heaven than you are here’
(Sherwood 1818: 282). Unless Sherwood was attempting to radicalise views, her book
reveals that her target audience of children were used to premature deaths.
Whist ‘embarrassed denial’ causes twenty-first century adults to worry whether any
information is too much, Sherwood clarifies the unpleasantness of death. She states
that ‘even the death of those whose souls are redeemed is a dreadful sight’ (Sherwood
1818: 293). Although the instruction for achieving a ‘good death’ would have been
written as much for the adult as the child, Sherwood urges the implied child reader to
read the funeral service, stating ‘I would advise you to read it immediately, and
consider it well’ (Sherwood 1818: 158). Read today, the book seems cloyingly didactic
and excessively suffused with religious lessons, interspersed with hymns, prayers and
biblical verse. However, not only is the importance of religion and ‘good death’ clearly
defined, but the role of children in nineteenth-century death rituals is confirmed. Whilst
some stories were undoubtedly used as a platform for political reform, they were no
less popular for it. The Methodist, Hesba Stretton, published many books for children
clearly aiming to impart a religious message and to evoke pity for the suffering of
children, in the same way that Andersen had addressed poverty in The Little Match Girl
(Andersen: 1845).
Augusta’s funeral
A detailed description of Augusta’s funeral, attended by ‘almost all the ladies and
gentlemen of the neighbourhood’ (Sherwood 1818: 157), supports the suggestion
above of community involvement for funerals at the time. In the text, all three children
‘stood very close to the coffin, crying bitterly’ (Sherwood 1818: 158). There is no
suggestion that immaturity or the sadness of the occasion should excuse the children
from attending a funeral. Sherwood narrates a full account of what to expect, including
the wearing of crape and a black-covered hearse, with black or white-feathered horses’
plumes ‘according to the age of the person to be borne’ (Sherwood 1818: 157). Whilst
there are no references to the state of extended mourning in the book, there are many
examples of funeral etiquette and it is as much a manual on what to expect from dying,
as it is a religious lesson.
88
Jessica’s First Prayer [1861]; (1867)
Happy death
This book is certainly moralistic, but also demonstrates that virtue is waiting within
oneself, requiring only to be ‘awakened’ (Grenby 2009: 81). Books of this genre
suggest that everyone has the potential to be virtuous by following the example of the
protagonist. Although Jessica happily awaits death, she is spared by her faith and her
prayer, and is therefore treated more optimistically that Charles Trueman, who
Sherwood did not spare.
There was a very sweet yet surprised smile upon her face…‘Our Father… I
asked you to let me come home to heaven; but if Mr. Dan’el wants me, please
to let me stay a little longer, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.’ (Stretton 1867: 92)
Changing views
The perception of a Heavenly home is still prevalent in the text, suggesting that
religious views were unchanged, however the book demonstrates changing attitudes
towards children, particularly in the middle-classes, that had begun with the earlier
Romantics of 1770-1848.133 Books of this genre allow the middle-class child to show
benevolence towards the deserving and lower-class poor (Hunt 2004: 45) whilst
retaining equilibrium in the class structure. By 1882, following social, economic and
educational reforms, the elite young ‘were no longer regarded as sinners but as little
angels’ (Ellis 1963: 31). Hunt (2004) agrees that the sentimentalised view of childhood,
becoming more noticeable in the late 1880s with books such as Little Lord Fauntleroy,
promoted the idea of the ‘beautiful child’ and children remained ‘protected’ until the
early 1920s (Hunt 2004: 51). Jessica’s First Prayer is a good example of a late
nineteenth-century book exemplifying a change in how children, particularly girls, were
perceived. However, the story also demonstrates that at this time, the content of books
for children existed more for the approval of the implied adult reader than for children’s
amusement and reveals the cultural perception of ‘suitable’ children’s literature.
TWENTIETH-CENTURY BOOKS
A trend away from didacticism
After the early twentieth century, children’s books were more likely to be adventures
with ‘stereotyped characters and ideas’ (Carpenter 2009: 16) or stories with ‘talking
animals or toys, or inexplicable magical events’ (Carpenter 2009: 16). Classics such as
133 The Romantic period extolled the virtuousness of children as being ‘in a higher state of
spiritual perception than adults’ (Carpenter 1985: 8).
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Peter Pan and Wendy (Barrie [1911]; 2005) and The Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis:
(1950) could be said to encompass all of the above. In support of firstly the cultural
history outlined above, and secondly the far-reaching effects of loss on children, I now
reflect on the previous chapter’s research and turn to a partly psychoanalytical analysis
of several texts, beginning with Peter Pan and Wendy. This is a particularly relevant
book to analyse, as it was written before the discussed turning point of the Great War
and because Barrie experienced traumatic losses in childhood. The book also
reinforces the premise that fantasy literature provides children with a base from which
to act out ‘not only real or imagined damage but also the desire for reparation’
(Bosmajian 1999: 106). The cathartic writing of authors as an attempt to come to terms
with childhood loss is clear from the following accounts.
Peter Pan and Wendy
Rose (1984) states that Peter Pan and Wendy (1911) is an early twentieth century
book written specifically for children (Rose 1984: 66). In contrast, Holmes argues that it
remains an example of an early twentieth century book written for both child and adult
(Holmes 2009: 140). Clearly, Peter Pan and Wendy is the ultimate adventure story, but
one in which the undercurrent of loss and the effects of unresolved bereavement are
always present. Furthermore, it exemplifies the cultural view that childhood should be
protected and cherished, not accelerated (Gilman 2005).134 Peter re-emphasises: ‘I just
want always to be a little boy and to have fun’ (Barrie 1928: 111). Adulthood is
perceived to be not fun. Living with Mrs. Darling would begin Peter’s journey into
adulthood and a loss of innocence, but for Peter ‘there can be no maturity, no increase
in wisdom, no procreation, not even death’ (Carpenter 1985: 180).
Resonating with themes of death and loss, revealing a culture used to community
death ritual and discussing death with children135 the narrator in Peter Pan and Wendy
refers to dying children, stating that ‘when children died, [Peter Pan] went part of the
way with them, so that they should not be frightened’ (Roth 2006: 58). Peter’s role of
surrogate parent is interesting, given Barrie’s own parental insecurity. Furthermore,
Peter Pan is relevant for discussing the effects on Barrie of a succession of unresolved
childhood losses and the metaphoric material exemplifying them. It is therefore a
relevant text to explore, for its ongoing effect on culture, and for demonstrating both the
134 From online journal The Looking glass: New Perspectives on Children’s Literature ,9 (3)
http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/ojs/index.php/tlg/article/view/32/36 (accessed 17.3.14)
135 Later, post Great War showings of the play, which preceded the book Peter Pan and Wendy,
had to omit the line: ‘To die would be an awfully big adventure’.
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long-term effects of bereavement, and the importance of adult support for bereaved
children.
Sibling death and mislocation
When Barrie was six, his elder brother David died aged thirteen (Carpenter 1985: 171).
It is therefore unsurprising that Peter Pan never grows up, but remains a child, not
having to cope with the real world. Peter Pan provides a platform for Barrie to retell the
story of David as well as retell his own story. Becker and Knudson (2003) suggest that
there is a ghost behind every story (Becker and Knudson 2003: 714, cited by Mallon
2011: 7), and in Peter Pan and Wendy, the ghost is probably David. Ultimately
however, it is unclear whether Peter Pan is David, who never did grow up or Barrie,
who ‘retained a markedly boyish look into old age’ (Carpenter 1985: 173). Carpenter
explores the conundrum and asserts that the primary model for Peter is Barrie, but that
David is a contributory figure (Carpenter 1985: 177). Nonetheless, most likely is
Carpenter’s definitive suggestion that ‘Peter is in a sense, made up out of many people’
(Carpenter 1985: 177). Unable to reconcile herself to the loss of David, Barrie’s mother
continued to keep David’s childhood memory alive (Carpenter 1985: 177) as much as
Barrie helped her to do so. To please his inconsolable mother, Barrie submerged his
own identity and emulated the dead David, dressing and whistling like him.
Field (2006) asserts that an inability by the bereaved to integrate the loss of a loved
one results in ‘mislocation’136 a term used by Bowlby (Bowlby 1980), possibly causing
parents to supplant the dead child with the one still living. Similarly, the need for
continuing bonds with a dead sibling (Klass, Silverman and Nickman 1996, cited by
Mallon 2011: 5) can cause the remaining child to act in a way that would have pleased
the deceased child (Mallon 2011: 5). Recent research further suggests that the
imitation of the deceased is a normalising grief response in children (Goldman 2006:
74) as is to ‘tell and retell their story’ (Goldman 2006: 73).
Object-relations
In the 1911 book of the original play, the theme of attachment and loss links to Kleinian
Object-Relations theory. Peter is separated from his shadow, which can be regarded
as his ‘object’ (Amiran 2012: 177) a situation which can only be remedied for Peter by
sewing the object back on, or tying it to himself (Amiran 2012: 177). Winnicott’s work
on transitional objects and the use of string to connect objects together symbolises the
136 A term meaning a failure by the living to acknowledge the death of a loved one.
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perceived threat of separation from the mother (Winnicott 1989:16, cited by Amiran
2012: 177). The need for Peter to attach his separate shadow to a part of himself,
without which he is not whole, resonates with Barrie’s tenuous childhood hold on his
own mother. Reality testing for Barrie was in his attempt to retain an attachment with a
depressed, ‘not good enough’ (Winnicott 1985: 56) mother. Her inability to interact with
the real Barrie made the attachment less secure. The final part of Peter Pan and
Wendy is particularly revealing of the unstable relationship between Barrie and his
maternal ‘object’.
Reality testing
It ends with Mrs. Darling’s reunion with the children back in the Nursery, to which Peter,
an uninvited onlooker, can be convincingly interpreted as a reflection of childhood loss
suffered by the bereaved Barrie. Peter is described as ‘looking through the window at
the one joy from which he must be forever barred’ (Barrie [1911]; 2005: 141). This
echoes Bowlby’s work on maternal attachment. In expressing both Barrie’s struggle
with bereavement and loss, and the cultural attitude to children and death at the
beginning of the twentieth century, the analysis of Peter Pan is relevant. Barrie’s use of
real and unreal characters, in real and fantasy settings, illustrates competing ‘home’
and ‘away’ worlds. The safety provided by the former to explore the latter echoes the
discussed ‘reality testing’ that helps children understand and cope with the significance
of death. However, there is a sense of unreality in the Nursery and in both Barrie’s
worlds, there is always the impact of loss to manage. Consequently, Peter must either
grow up and lose the fantasy Neverland, or remain a child and lose the real Wendy.
Arguably, Barrie’s attempt to come to terms with childhood loss is projected onto Peter,
who can be regarded as a boy with a tenuous grip on reality. As Peter states ‘I want
always to be a little boy and never grow up’ (Barrie 1928: 32). Peter is ageless,
sexless, and immortal, and therefore at odds with the reality of being and ultimately,
dying.
The culture of the audience
Belsey (1980) argues that culture is shaped by stories, and stories are equally shaped
by culture, which is clear from reading the story. She asserts that people are the
products of history itself, or even product and producer concurrently (Belsey 1980,
cited by Sarland 1999: 46). The times in which a book is written, and its intended
audience, are unavoidably linked to cultural events. As such, something is lost in
translation by readers from one time period to another, a view upheld by Rose (1984),
who suggests that ‘as Peter Pan very clearly demonstrates, if we are talking to one
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group of children, then the chances are we will not be speaking to another’ (Rose 1984:
7). Twenty-first century children could disregard cues intended by Barrie for an earlier
audience, however the potential for empathy with Peter might be stronger in children
bereaved of mothers, and it remains an ideal text to read and discuss with children.
BOOKS FROM THE 1930s TO THE 1960s
Pleasure as goal (with didacticism)
As the twentieth century progressed, evidence that the implied child reader became the
preferred target audience for authors of children’s literature can be seen from the
change in literary content. Books became less overtly moralistic and more fantastic. A
change in how children’s literature was perceived is portrayed in Darton’s 1932
definition of children’s literature as:
…printed works produced ostensibly to give children spontaneous pleasure
and not primarily to teach them, nor solely to make them good nor to keep them
profitably quiet. (Darton 1932: 133)
Arguably, even an author attempting to create pleasure-seeking reading suggests a
type of didacticism (Nodelman 2008: 255), which can be better understood by
examining a book from The Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis: 1950-1956), written by
another author deeply affected by loss, both in childhood and adulthood.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [1950] (1960)
The first published book in the Chronicles of Narnia was published five years after the
Second World War and demonstrates the dualistic elements of instruction and pleasure
particularly well. Whilst Lewis states it is ‘a fairy tale to escape to’ (Gray 1998: 61) it is
also inescapably moralistic, and there is therefore something of the extended fable
about the book. The preference for prized virtues of forgiveness, trust and loyalty
shown by the protagonists emerge in opposition to the lesser traits of ruthlessness,
distrust and deceit. The relevance to the research of The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe is twofold: the theme of death and loss, and the influence of religion.
Death and loss
Gray (1998) asserts that the imaginative writing of Lewis is ‘all about death’ (Gray
1998: 53) and arguably, it is all about loss. It is therefore a good example of a fantasy
text emphasising escapism from death and loss whilst conveying the emotions
associated with grief. Written near a time of widespread submerged mourning, many
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children had recently been evacuated, orphaned or made homeless. Whereas the safe
home as the ultimate place to be is shown above to be a common theme in children’s
books (Nodelman 2008: 66) the book reflects the uncertainty of a post-war world in
which it was common for children to have lost a secure home setting. However, no
matter what happens in Narnia, the children always return to the Professor’s house,
which provides ‘good enough’ protection. Lewis’s book merges the binary opposites of
reality and unreality, where the real world of ‘home’ opposes the unreal world of ‘away’.
Nonetheless, similar to Peter Pan and Wendy (1911) and Tom’s Midnight Garden
(1958) ‘away’ seems real when the children are there, despite time slips.
Religion
The book was published in the British post-war culture of increasing secularism. The
scene in which Aslan surrenders himself for the children’s sins, before resurrection
(Wilson 1991: 220), is undoubtedly influenced by Lewis’s conversion to Christianity in
1931 (Wilson 1991: 133). Aslan’s return to life from death provides a happy, Christian-
influenced eschatological ending, but also sanctions a cultural death-denial.
‘Aren’t you dead then, dear Aslan?’ said Lucy.
‘Not now’, said Aslan. (Lewis 1960: 147)
For any child still in the ‘Magical Thinking’ age, this part of the story needs adult
interpretation. Whilst the story subtly grapples with the issue of faith and morality, the
virtue of truthfulness is explicit, adding an instructional element to the text. Similarly,
Aslan’s resurrection, categorised by Tolkien as ‘the mark of the true fairy story’ (Gray
1998: 64), is juxtaposed between religious didacticism and fantasy. Replicating the
‘Doubting Thomas’137 of the Christian gospels, Lucy was doubted by her siblings
because apart from Edmund, who denied Lucy’s recount of Narnia (1960: 41), no-one
else had been through the wardrobe. Ultimately, the professor states:
‘Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth.’ (Lewis
1960: 47)
Despite lack of evidence, and having ruled out the other possibilities, Lucy is
considered truthful. It is nonetheless resonant of the best fairy tales, where suffering
and loss are usually stepping-stones towards happiness, and where valour triumphs
137 From the gospel of John chapter 20: verse 27
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over adversity. As with Barrie, Lewis’s own childhood in Ireland is thought to have
influenced his writing. At the age of nine Lewis reportedly ‘was marked for life by his
mother’s death’ (Adey 1998: 5). Furthermore, within two months of his mother dying,
preceded by the death of his grandfather, Lewis was sent to school in England, losing
his home, his grandfather, his mother and his absent, emotionally distraught father
(Wilson 1991: 21) in quick succession. It can reasonably be argued that so many
unresolved childhood losses impacted on Lewis and that the grief carried into
adulthood was cathartically managed through stories.
Mothers and transitional objects
This premise can be upheld by exploring the psychoanalytic references to mothers in
both books. Faced with maternal loss, and realising that there is no securely attached
‘good mother’ (Mitchell 1986: 165) the Narnia children echo Lewis’s own experiences.
They either try to fulfil the role themselves or seek a mother replacement. In Peter Pan
and Wendy, Peter and the lost boys successfully envisage the child Wendy as a
potential mother:
‘O Wendy lady, be our mother’. (Barrie [1911] 2005: 65)
In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Susan the eldest evacuee, manages only
an unsuccessful attempt at mother-like language and is not credible to her siblings as a
mother-figure:
‘Trying to talk like Mother’, said Edmund. (Lewis 1960: 10)
Edmund’s need for maternal support leads him to unwisely choose the exotic
patronage of the ‘bad mother’ White Witch, rather than the ‘good enough’ Mrs. Beaver.
The White Witch can be assumed to represent Lewis’s ‘bad breast’ absent mother who
‘rejected’ him by dying (Holbrook 1991, cited by Gray 1998: 77). Both mother figures
use the provision of food to help form attachments. Jadis, the White Witch uses ‘bad for
you’ Turkish Delight (Lewis 1960: 37) while Mrs Beaver uses good, honest fare (Lewis
1960: 70) but the supplying of food renders both examples of maternal attachment
more Freudian than Kleinian in philosophy, as discussed above.
Wardrobes
Examining the alleged relationship of a transitional object to symbolism valorises the
premise that the wardrobe portal is a symbol for transition from childhood and
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egocentrism, to adulthood and objectivity. Winnicott (1985) maintains that such
symbolism can only be properly studied as relevant to ‘the growth of an individual’
(Winnicott 1985: 7). It can be argued that the wardrobe is the gateway to personal
growth. For Edmund particularly, a central theme in the story is his gradual moral
development as he learns to be honest, progressing from doing ‘the meanest and most
spiteful thing he could think of’ (Lewis 1960: 44) after first entering the wardrobe, to
being labelled ‘Edmund the Just’ (Lewis 1960: 167). The use of the wardrobe provides
a means for the children to become virtuous from within, reminiscent of the progress
made by Jessica in Jessica’s First Prayer, and clearly didactic. Whilst the discussion
above reveals the complexity of the material, it is also clearly an outlet for expression of
Lewis’s religious conversion and unresolved childhood bereavement. It is therefore a
good example of the way in which a culture shapes a book and how a writer uses
personal experience to shape culture through the reader.
Tom’s Midnight Garden (1958)
Bereavement as a feeling
Written thirteen years after the Second World War, Tom’s Midnight Garden (Pearce
1958) is a book typifying the trend for books written in England between the 1950s and
1970s (Carpenter 1985: 217). From a psychoanalytical reading of the book, Rustin and
Rustin assert that during the story, the characters in Tom’s Midnight Garden keep good
feelings alive whilst they are ‘in a state of ‘loneliness and loss’ (Rustin and Rustin 2001:
32). The idea that bereavement is about feelings, rather than Heaven replaces the
nineteenth century religious didacticism. Hatty, one of the focalising138 characters
exemplifies this as she moves from the child bereaved from parental death, to the adult
bereaved of two sons in the Great War. Furthermore, the book demonstrates that
perceived lesser losses impact significantly on children. Tom feels the loss of his home,
his brother, his parents and his long-awaited school holiday. Tom Long’s removal from
his measles-infected brother reflects Pearce’s own experience of a long stay in hospital
from tuberculosis. The book details a story of coming to terms with losses, and is a
textual reminder of the infant management of reality through play, discussed next.
Gardens and reality
Rustin and Rustin (2001) suggest that through play, Hatty comes to terms with the
reality of her loss. By identifying with and playing with Hatty, Tom is able to explore the
retained memories of his family and home, and by the end of the story Tom feels the
138 The character from whose viewpoint the story is told
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additional loss of his attachment to Hatty (Rustin and Rustin 2001: 31). To implied child
readers, a significant message is that consecutive losses can occur. The daytime
garden is in Tom’s real childhood time, but at night it is in Hatty’s childhood time. The
fantasy world of the garden is, as in Narnia, a portal for the journey from childhood into
adulthood and a metaphor for the imaginative time of dreaming ‘in between internal
and external reality’ (Rustin and Rustin 2001: 36). The real, daytime garden is the
world of loss and internal reality where Tom’s internalised attachments and unresolved
losses exist. The unreal, midnight garden is the world of imagination and external
reality, although in the story it is as real for Tom as the daytime garden (Rustin and
Rustin 2001: 36) in the way that Narnia is real in the Chronicles.
Other worlds
As the story progresses, there is a merging of Tom’s two worlds when his brother
appears to him in a dream, a familiar experience for bereaved people, as stated by
Parkes (Parkes 1972, cited by Hockey, Katz and Small 2008: 89). As the book was
written within reach of the Second World War and during a time that death and out-of-
reach relatives would have remained in people’s thoughts, the dream could have
reflected the longing felt by those bereaved. Tom’s ability to perform unreal,
supernatural feats hints that he is ‘not of this world’. An amazed Hatty sees Tom move
through closed doors and she describes Tom as ‘unreal looking’ (Pearce[1958] 2008:
196).
‘But, please, Tom-please come through slowly – I want to see how it’s done!’
(Pearce [1958], 2008: 144)
Comparisons between themes of time, and of leaving childhood behind, are in both
Tom’s Midnight Garden and Peter Pan and Wendy. In support of this premise,
Carpenter suggests that ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden is in one respect a reworking of Peter
Pan from Peter’s point of view’ (Carpenter 1985: 219). Like Peter, Tom also wishes not
to grow up but to stay in the present where his attachment to Hatty has overtaken the
yearning for real home with a desire to stay in the unreal home of midnight garden. As
mentioned, themes of binary opposition are often used in a classic form of writing,
characteristic of many children’s books, which compare the biospheres of home and
not home (Nodelman 2008: 230). The merging of the binary opposites of reality and
unreality demonstrated by events in the real world of ‘home’ and the unreal world of
‘away’, are obvious in Tom’s Midnight Garden, Peter Pan and Wendy (1911) and The
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Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), where the passing of time is different
between the biospheres.
Although losses occur in both worlds, the trend for books fantastically shifting between
real and unreal worlds might account for Tom and Peter enduring into the twenty-first
century, whereas The Fairchild Family and Jessica’s First Prayer have not. However,
although not religiously didactic in the manner of Sherwood and Stretton, Tom’s
Midnight Garden is nonetheless instructional. Pearce suggests that it is good for boys
to cry and share unhappiness, with the external support of an adult.
Now at last he wanted to tell her-to share and perhaps thereby lessen his grief.
(Pearce [1958] 2008: 213)
Pearce’s portrayal of Tom’s feelings, reflect the start of a cultural realisation that
children feel loss, despite not always voicing it. With Kűbler-Ross’s pioneering work On
Death and Dying (Kűbler-Ross 1969) still unpublished, Tom exemplifies a text of loss
advanced for its times. The following wordless books are very different in layout,
possibly attracting a different target audience but still good examples of loss themes.
1960s ONWARDS AND PICTURE BOOKS
A different notion of reality
Jones clarifies ‘that children’s books, published since the 1960s show little of the
directly targeted Christian morality and pious sentimentalism of the late nineteenth
century’ (Jones 2001: 33) and this statement seems credible, as it has been discussed
as a time of growing secularisation and social and political change in Britain. From
1970 it became obvious that whilst most children’s books were promoting certain
values, the plots emphasised the spiritual, moral or intellectual maturing of children
from contact with magical, unreal worlds. Through this process they came to terms with
reality (Carpenter 1985: 217). Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman [1978] (2013)
encompasses the reality of loss with the possibility of magic and as such is a very
powerful book. For the times in which it was written it demonstrates an anomaly
between the culturally accepted fun element of comics and picture books, the ideology
that informs them, and the way in which Briggs uses the book to instruct children about
death and loss.
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The pictures are unquestionably amusing, but there is a specific orientation towards the
reality constructed by the society of the time (Hunt 1992: 158), making picture books as
instructional as any of the books discussed above. Analysis of The Snowman [1978]
(2013) is relevant for demonstrating the way that an author from the late twentieth
century, having suffered losses as a child, deals with death and loss through pictures.
The Snowman[1978] (2013)
Layout
As a picture book in cartoon strips The Snowman diverges from previous books
discussed, in that it straddles two genres of book style: comic strip and picture book.
Although enjoyed by younger readers, Gibson (2010) notes that the enjoyment and
comprehension of The Snowman is best employed by experienced readers who can
decode the format of panels and story sequence, and understand the ‘grammar of the
comic’ (Gibson 2010: 106). The conventions deployed in the picture book, whereby the
reader must ‘decode the pictorial, cultural and linguistic codes with considerable
competence’ (Moss 1992: 52) are beyond the capabilities of many younger children
with minimal world experience. This premise expands Stephens’ statement that reading
a picture book requires a complex cognitive process (Stephens 1992: 161) and
consequently, questions common primary school practice. Non-readers with negligible
phonics knowledge usually begin by interpreting a wordless picture book with adult
support. Verbalising what they think is happening in the story helps children learn the
rudiments of book layout, but comprehension is sometimes inept.
Love and loss
As with Lewis’s Narnia Chronicles, The Snowman can be interpreted as juxtaposed
between a magical fairy tale and a lesson in life and death, love and loss. Whilst
immature readers might confuse reality with fantasy, especially if in the Magical
Thinking stage, an older child would probably know already that snow and snowmen
eventually melt. The theme of irrevocable loss is clearly aimed at the child implied
reader, not adults, and in support of this view, Sainsbury (2005) asserts that the story
of The Snowman reflects ‘Briggs’ belief that children should not be shielded from the
darker aspects of human experience’ (Sainsbury 2005: 231). Although it could be
argued that a type of anthropomorphism is projected onto the snowman to make
Briggs’ point, the book is undeniably about death and loss (Reynolds 2005: 231).
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Home and away
The story begins with a cosy home tableau, which as discussed, epitomises safety.
Having set the scene, deep snowfall in the garden follows to change the familiar
landscape to a strange, unknown place. The boy’s experience of loss begins with the
disappearance of his known landscape and Carroll (2011) asserts that snow is ‘an
especially apt signifier of other worlds in children’s fantasy’ (Carroll 2011: 44). Ice in
Peter Pan, snow in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and snow and ice in Tom’s
Midnight Garden represent a moving away from childhood innocence, certainty and
safety and ‘all that is traditional, mundane and routine’ (Wood 2004, cited by Carroll
2011: 44) to what is unknown and uncertain. The focalising character makes an adult,
male snowman from the fresh snowfall and by magic, or possibly wish fulfilment, he
comes to life to be a friend for the boy and the transitional object between the known,
old world and the new, unknown world (Winnicott 1974, cited by Moebius 1991: 68).
The boy’s ‘good enough mother’ (Winnicott 1985) is seen initially watching him explore
the new world from the kitchen window and is later seen tucking him into the safety and
comfort of bed. The boy has internalised the mother as a secure attachment and
provider of safety and so fearlessly embarks on an adventure ‘away’. Although the
home setting and garden signify safety for the boy, the night-time adventure requires
him to move away from his mother and trust his new protector. The excitement of flying
away with the snowman to a secret magical world is reminiscent of Peter Pan and
representative of a slow moving from childhood to adulthood through the portal of the
night sky. The story begins and ends with the safety of home and moreover the
bedroom, from where the snowman is first noticed, and last seen ‘alive’. The possibility
that the snowman will not last, is signposted by inviting the snowman indoors and
showing him beginning to melt by the fire, suggesting that he cannot exist in the home
world.
Loss
Although the book translates successfully for the twenty-first century reader, there is a
clear cultural significance with pictures showing both parents living harmoniously
together. The house scenes depict a traditional, nuclear family going about daily life; a
mirroring of Briggs’ own early childhood experience before being evacuated from home
in the Second World War and a possible statement against the rising divorce statistics
of the 1970s.
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In the last ‘sleep’ frame near the end of the book, the
golden light of the sun allows the knowledgeable reader
to infer that the snowman will melt.
The book could be a useful ‘way in’ for discussion with a
bereaved child especially as the concluding frame
shows that the snowman has ‘died’. Explicitly,
Briggs’ comic/picture book is a fantasy story about
adventure and new beginnings. Implicitly, it is a book
about loss and the irreversibility of death and as
such is a very powerful, instructional book for
children to read, albeit reliant on children’s
understanding of this genre and their ability to realise
the irreversibility of death.
Cultural translation
Granpa (1984a) (1984b)
Within the field of children’s literature is the concept of text translation from one
language to another. The implied reader in this instance is in a culture other than that
of the original author, and as such, changes to the original text are made to
accommodate them. A book that has possibly suffered from being translated into
German is Granpa (Burningham: 1984a). Burningham’s British book speaks volumes
by using minimal text and allowing the reader to gradually form their own conclusions
about the eventual illness and death of the old man.
‘Mama said that soon you will be going away forever, Granpa’. (Burningham and
Korschunow 1984b: 17, translated from Burningham 1984a).
Inference
A double-spread picture book with text, Granpa is the story of a little girl’s relationship
with her grandfather, and their many shared experiences, told in the present tense. As
the story nears its end, Granpa is seen to slip on the snow, and is next seen wrapped
in a blanket next to a table holding medicines, allowing the reader to realise he is ill.
The penultimate picture is of the girl sitting on her little chair, opposite Granpa’s empty
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chair, next to an empty table. The inference can be made that an ill, old person has
died, and has left an emptiness that is being mourned.
No text is needed, as the absence of conversation between the characters, allow
children to conclude that Granpa is no longer in the story. However, the Korschunow
translation into German alters the original author’s intention, which was to let the reader
draw their own conclusions, and instead, Korschunow elucidates the death. Whilst
O’Sullivan states that the implied readers in the German translation are assumed to be
less able to make sophisticated connections between the verbal and visual elements of
the books’ (O’Sullivan in Lathey 2006: 120), the suggestion above that young readers
find inference problematic, is in itself, a salient reason for why Korschunow made this
change.
Mourning
However, the explanation supplied by O’Sullivan for the change in emphasis is that
German educationalists are ‘reluctant to entertain children by letting their blood run
cold, considering it tasteless or even dangerous’ (translated from Grűtzmacher 1985: 4,
cited by O’Sullivan 2005: 29). This is an interesting observation, demonstrating a
cultural change in content suitability, especially given the inclination of the original
Grimms’ fairy tales to provide unpleasant endings. However, support comes from Frank
(2014) who suggests that children’s books can be used for helping to socialise children
into their society. Using stories to address life events such as ‘suffering, death and
violence’ (Frank 2014: 20) can result in the norms of the reader’s culture adapting a
text through translation (Ibid.). Nonetheless, Lathey (2006: 120) criticises the
Korschunow translation of Granpa for allowing the child to recover her mourning too
quickly:
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‘First of all I was sad but after a while I wasn’t’. (Burningham and
Korschunow 1984b: 18, translated from Burningham 1984a)
This lack of empathy for children’s extended mourning reveals a deficiency in some
children’s literature, which if anything, should use the medium of story to inform and
improve cultural awareness. As such, children reading a translated book can be
prevented from reading it in the way intended by the author, which is especially
problematic when writing about death to suit a particular culture. The crux of the matter
is whether the cultural differences affect the overall enjoyment or usefulness of the
story.139
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BOOKS
A covert adult audience
Twenty-first century readers have little use for the overtly religious books of the
nineteenth century, which seem to bear no relation to contemporary culture. The need
for books that are enjoyable as well as instructional has strongly influenced authors to
provide texts that will appeal to the adults who read them to children, as well as to the
children who try to understand them. Nodelman (2008) supports this view and states
that what adults aim for is not just what is good for children, but what is good for adults.
He suggests this might be better defined as ‘the literature adults want and need
children to need’ (Nodelman 2008: 158). The place of death and dying in children’s
books is particularly relevant. When discussing realism in children’s literature, Westall
(1981) notes that because ‘we adults are upset by children’s real thoughts we regard
them as being unsuitable material for children’s books [and] you don’t even have to go
as far as death to find taboos in the children’s book world’ (Westall 1981, cited by Hunt
1994: 169).
Arguably, the adult implied-reader is always at the back of the author’s mind when
writing. ‘Compassion books’ in which real people fall ill and die can be analysed with
reference to Nodelman’s observation that books are recommended by adults primarily
because they influence children in ways which ‘are useful to adults and their society as
a whole’ (Nodelman 2008: 159). In a culture of predominantly embarrassed denial, their
usefulness is in alerting children to situations adults find awkward to discuss. Whereas
books for older children contain more information, ‘a wide range of visual symbolism’
(Nodelman 2005: 136) in picture books conveys complex meaning. The Copper Tree
139 See Bibliotherapy findings: Fairy tales.
103
(Robinson and Stanley: 2013) is a picture book with text that can be categorised as a
‘compassion’ book.
The Copper Tree
Memories
While it is non-euphemistic and clarifies that someone has died, the book hinders
cultural ease with discussing terminal illness. The story reveals a class of young
children, possibly Foundation Stage140, whose female teacher becomes ill and later
dies. Like a mother figure, she represents both good and bad experiences. The
children write to her recalling times spent with her, and although Alfie Tate remembers
‘always having to go to her desk for being naughty’ (Robinson and Stanley 2013: 15)
he is also shown playing with a healthy Miss Evans in the playground (ibid.: 16). She is
therefore, a pseudo ‘good enough mother’ whose memory is kept alive by the
children’s memories and the planting of a copper tree, covered with copper leaves
inscribed with children’s messages detailing the memories and skills learned from Miss
Evans. The book reflects the cultural philosophy of support organisations such as
Winston’s Wish141 who emphasise the importance of keeping memories alive.
The included suggestion that talking to an adult ‘sometimes helps’ (Winston’s Wish
2014: 13) is in line with research above, acknowledging talking-cures. The book’s final
page depicts leaves for the child reader to write their own messages. Remembering the
deceased is shown as intrinsic to grieving and what the book does well is to clarify that
sadness and anger are both permissible grief symptoms in children (ibid.: 14).
Good death
However, whereas nineteenth-century books leave little unsaid, clarifying the
importance of only a religious ‘good death’, The Copper Tree is an example of a
twenty-first century book with a secular, medicalised approach to ‘good death’,
reflecting the cultural priority for pain-free death. The book clarifies that Miss Evans
‘wasn’t in any pain at all when she died’ (Robinson and Stanley 2013: 11). However,
whilst the book improves greatly on the often-read euphemistic book Freddie the
Falling Leaf, (Buscaglia 1982) in which Freddie ‘falls asleep’ it fails to circumvent the
cultural disinclination to abandon ‘embarrassed denial’ when discussing cancer. The
book alludes to cancer through illustrations but omits the word and although The Secret
C (Stokes 2000) was published earlier, Stokes’ descriptive clarity is clearly not
140 In Britain, commonly aged 4-5 years old.
141 Memory boxes are purchasable from the charity.
104
widespread. There are several obvious signals to adults reading The Copper Tree that
the teacher is seriously ill as pictures show her seated in a wheelchair with a scarf
hiding her hair-loss. A child with some experience of cancer might infer what is not
stated, but otherwise Miss Evans feeling ‘a bit wobbly’ is as clear as it gets.
Nevertheless, the children in the class understand the irrevocability of Miss Evans’
death.
The Copper Tree (2013)
Cultural comfort
The changing way that death is depicted in children’s books exemplifies how books
shape culture and simultaneously, how culture shapes books and books in which
humans die are becoming more common. Aimed at children from four years old, What
Does Dead Mean? (Jay and Thomas 2013) not only shows a corpse, but also uses
105
conversations to ask and answer questions about death. It is an unusual text, as few
children’s books pictorialise ‘real’ dead people.
Badger’s Parting Gifts (Varley [1984] 2013) is commonly read in schools when
someone has died. Nonetheless, as the original fables used animal characters to teach
moral lessons it is unsurprising that dying animals are still anthropomorphised in
children’s literature. Moreover, Hollindale asserts that ‘in literature as in life, we have to
start from where the children are, and with their own (often inarticulate) ideas’
(Hollindale 1992: 35) and Tucker (1991) agrees that children might be more
comfortable exploring death where books depict a dying mother animal rather than
experimenting with the feelings associated with their worst fears (Tucker 1991: 56). A
case exists for introducing young children to death in this way before expanding their
learning, however, offering books in which only animals die exacerbates cultural death-
denial and relieves the problem for adults. I now turn to two books that focus on
divorce, Two homes (Masurel and Denton 2002) and It’s Not Your Fault, Koko Bear
(Lansky and Prince 1998).
Divorce
Two Homes
Accentuating the positive
Notwithstanding the likelihood that children will experience the death of grandparents,
there is a higher possibility that children will suffer grief from divorce than from parental
death. Statistics above show the high percentage of divorced families, and in the
twenty-first century, the same problems could relate to co-habiting couples. In 2011
there were over two thousand lone- mother families with dependent children compared
with over three hundred lone-father families with children under sixteen (ONS 2014:
Table 1)142 and it is unclear whether the parents were originally married. The ‘lesser
losses’ following parental separation such as change of school, home loss, even pet
loss have a significant effect on children, as suggested by Duffy (2003) above,
especially if they are dealing with several of those losses at one time. The use of a
book to help view change positively is therefore a valuable resource for parents, and
hopefully for children.
142 ONS Families and Households survey 2014. [online] Available at
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/family-demography/families-and-households/2014/families-and-
households-in-the-uk--2014.html (accessed 8.10.15)
106
One such book is Two Homes (2002), which depicts the life of a child living with their
mother and visiting the home of their father. The main message of the book is that
whether Alex, the protagonist, has two front doors, two favourite chairs, each different,
or two beds each in a different place, the love that both parents have for her is equal
and unchanging. Notwithstanding the demonstrated joy at having fun in two homes,
there are stereotypical messages underlying the main message. Dad’s home is by the
sea, has a dog in it, shows little regard to tidiness and has no picture of mum visible.
Mum’s home is a more austere flat, with no garden, a goldfish for the pet, and a huge
painting by Alex of Dad on the bedroom wall. There is little doubt as to which home
looks more fun, and it is possible that this is a deliberate tactic, as statistically, most
children remain living with their mother.
It’s Not Your Fault, Koko Bear (1998)
Good-enough parents
It’s Not Your Fault, Koko Bear (Lanskey and Prince 1998) is book with the same
intention as Two Homes (2002), but it uses bears rather than people, and is therefore
less representative of a child’s experiences. Both books on divorce are also reminders
of the theme of home and away, discussed above, although in these books, ‘away’ is
another ‘home’. The book theme is that forgetting a back-pack because it is at one
parent’s house is not Koko’s fault, and this paves the way for the greater worry for a
child of whose fault the divorce is. The discussion above notes that it is not uncommon
for children to assume that something they did caused their parents to separate. The
author clearly understands that children can blame themselves for parental divorce143
and also that they can feel angry or sad, in the same way as children bereaved by
death. Nonetheless, the theme of the books is that both homes are equally important
for the child. The ‘good-enough mother’ now needs to be equalled with the ‘good-
enough father’, as with parents no longer together, a child needs to feel as secure in
one home as they do in another.
A more unusual addition to the book is the notes to parents at the foot of each page,
which give indications of how to discuss situations that might arise. It’s Not Your Fault,
Koko Bear (ibid.) is therefore appealing to adults as much as children and is a cross
between a story-book and an instruction manual in which advice is given, addressing
both adult and child implied readers.
143 Children commonly blame themselves for loss (Jewett 1997: 167; Silverman 2000: 50).
107
CHAPTER CONCLUSION
Nineteenth century writers did not shy away from discussing death and loss and it
could be assumed that those authors showed more responsibility towards educating
children for bereavement than authors since. It is clear, however, that the author’s
intention was predominantly to uphold religious and moral cultural views, a didacticism
that seems at odds with literature in the last sixty years. The post World War Two
books analysed above reflect fantasy stories in which people can time-slip through
portals between this world and other worlds; a feat obviously incredible to most adults,
but not necessarily to children. The stories reveal to the reader the difference between
reality and unreality, and the restoring of the ‘me’ from the transitional space in which
exists the ‘not me’. The use of other worlds is by no means definite as a veiled
inference to Heavenly states, but it is possible that as with other aspects related to
death and loss, the authors of post twentieth-century books felt more comfortable
hinting at post-death states, rather than clarifying them. The protagonists successfully
deal with attachment and loss, often supported by a protector, and once the events of
the story conclude and equilibrium is restored, there is a sense of the protagonists
having learned from the experience and being improved morally before moving on.
There is therefore nothing to suggest that reading about death and loss should
traumatise twenty-first century children.
Mark (1986) asserts that whether children find the unknown more frightening than the
known is doubtful and that only the known can be identified and dealt with (Mark 1986,
cited by Hunt 2005: 197). Children’s books that only allude to dying are responsible for
perpetuating cultural death denial and whilst there is evidence of a recent change in
book content, the minimal inclusion of death-related facts and pictures exacerbates the
problem. However, the proliferation of the book’s success relies mainly on the
commendation of the implied adult readers as much as the implied child readers,
posing the question of who the book is really written for. A finding when researching
this chapter, was that although books for children on divorce can be easily sourced,
fiction in UK English for younger children of parental imprisonment is rare, outside of
specifically related websites144. This is a possible reflection of the stigma associated
with imprisonment and the reluctance of adults to discuss difficult issues with children.
However, Hunt asserts that authors have a responsibility to do more than just tell
stories (Hunt 1994: 3) and clearly they are in a powerful position to impart specific
144 With the exception of: Weir and Littlewood (2012) When Dad Was Away. London: Frances
Lincoln
108
intentions. A later chapter extends the discussion above by examining in more detail
how particular genres of books could help bereaved children in a school setting.
109
Chapter 5
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF QUESTIONNAIRES
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
These findings have been employed to help answer research questions arising from
the literature review. A motivating element of all the research areas was realising my
own inadequacy when faced with managing a child bereaved from a tragic loss that
was not commonly perceived as stressful as death. Consequently, I assumed that
other teachers untrained in death and loss education might feel similarly deficient. The
analysed data from questionnaires are used to help clarify any truth in the suggestion
that provision for death and loss education in primary schools is lacking and to support
other thesis findings. Although it is not entirely certain whether any deficit in provision is
influenced more by a lack of government policy; teachers’ personal bereavement
experiences; funding, or general ‘embarrassed denial’, the initial suspicion was that
whilst all these factors could contribute significantly to the minimal status afforded to
death education, there might be one factor overriding the rest. This chapter reports,
and discusses, the results of a small research study involving thirteen primary schools
within a specific geographical area of Southern England, which although
unrepresentative of metropolitan areas, is nonetheless similar to other Shire counties.
This chapter seeks to contribute responses from teachers in my sampled area to the
other findings from Educational Policy. It became clear from the first two chapters that
perception of a ‘good death’ has changed, particularly after the events of the First
World War, changes in mourning rituals and the increase in secularisation and
medicalisation. To explore more recent perception of ‘good death’ this area is included
in the questionnaire. An initial intuition was that many primary school teachers had
received negligible initial teacher training (ITT) or continuing professional development
(CPD) for death and loss education but had taught at least one child bereaved from
death or lesser loss. This made school-based policy provision an area requiring
examination. Having written a school-based policy for daily death and loss education
during the course of the research, to pair with a required Critical Incident policy,
research revealed that my own school was in a minority. I was therefore interested to
see if other schools in the sample had written a policy to support daily whole-school
approaches to managing death and loss.
110
I was also interested in the provision of school-based counselling, having realised from
chapter two that bereaved children with unresolved losses can suffer problems in adult
relationships and that counselling services are now largely bought-in. Further findings
extend the bibliotherapy findings, and discuss whether teachers in the sample employ
the strategy of using fiction books for problem solving. Although a recent survey
conducted by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in 2012 reveals that over
ninety per cent of teachers in the U.S.A. are still not receiving bereavement training145
(AFT 2012: 4), nonetheless, developmental bibliotherapy is commonly accepted as a
resource for teachers to use. Other chapter findings suggest that the resource could be
helpful in British schools for troubled children, many of whom are bereaved and in
mainstream classes. The questionnaire findings therefore contributes to several fields
of enquiry explored further in other chapters. I now discuss the findings from
questionnaires, beginning with teachers’ experiences.
TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES
Initial training and continuing professional development
The responses in this section of the questionnaire were intended to explore teachers’
attitudes to discussing death and loss and their history of having taught bereaved
children. This would contribute to research into teachers’ reactions to coping with death
and loss on a daily basis. Factors included were those which might have affected
teachers’ confidence, such as whether teachers were bereaved as children. Particularly
relevant was whether teachers (when children) had seen the deceased, attended the
funeral or been prevented by adults from doing so. It was thought that past experiences
might influence their management of bereaved pupils, and the perceived importance
placed on discussing death with children. Furthermore, other analysis reveals that
teachers often fear saying the wrong thing, tending to only approach death education
passively (Bowie 2000: 24, 26). Consequently, respondents were asked whether they
had experienced ITT or CPD training for death and loss education. To improve the
chance of a questionnaire response, teachers could maintain anonymity by not
divulging their position or status in their school. I therefore did not know who was a
head teacher and could only know which teachers were newly qualified (NQT) from the
number of years they had taught.
The latter information was relevant to the research, as a NQT might not yet have had
the chance to receive CPD training for death education. Nevertheless, had their initial
145 AFT survey results: Supporting the Grieving Student. [online] Available at
http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/release_bereavement121012.pdf (accessed 3.4.15)
111
teacher training included a lecture on coping with grief symptoms in children, I would
have expected respondents to refer to that training on the questionnaire, assuming that
the lecture had made enough impression upon their memories. However, the
widespread affirmation that training had not been offered at any time, upholds the
suggestion in the Educational Policy findings, that ITT courses are not providing much,
if anything, by way of helping trainee teachers prepare for this aspect of teaching and
schools are not offering CPD. Furthermore, the updated findings contribute to earlier
research by Eiser, Havermans, Rolph and Rolph (1995) which revealed only six per
cent of 104 trainee teachers had found bereavement included in their course (Eiser et
al 1995: 33) and a lack of standardised training in death education.
My sample was a similar size to Eiser et al (100 potential respondents) and it was
unlikely that all teachers would have completed ITT in the same university. It agrees
with recent research of ITT providers, which found that less than two per cent of ITT
students had been on any courses for bereavement. (Shepherd at al 2013: 20)146.
Gender, years of teaching, religion
Out of one hundred questionnaires sent to thirteen schools, there were forty- one
replies; thirty female respondents, seven male and four with no gender stated. It is
assumed that for those with un-stated gender, the question had either been overlooked
or the information was intentionally withheld to preserve anonymity, creating non-
response bias. Furthermore, teachers were asked to specify their age-range rather
than exact age, to uphold anonymity. Less chance of anonymity might also somehow
contribute response-bias.
TABLE FIVE: Respondents’ age ranges
21-25
26-35
36-41
42-50
51-60
Male
2
Male
0
Male
3
Male
1
Male
1
Female
3
Female
6
Female
5
Female
8
Female
8
Unstated
Gender
0
Unstated
Gender
0
Unstated
Gender
3
Unstated
Gender
1
Unstated
Gender
0
TOTAL
5
6
11
10
9
Another reason for knowing teachers’ ages was that although NQTs were assumed to
be the youngest teachers, making it unlikely that they had yet received CPD training in
146 Shepherd et al (2013) Public Health Research August 2013. [online] Available at
http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/351998/1/FullReport-phr01020.pdf (accessed 15.9.15)
112
death and loss education, teaching is a graduate profession attracting mature students.
In England alone, the number of placed mature students (aged over 21) for teacher
training in 2014 exceeded 19,500, although it is unclear what proportion of the students
were solely for primary education (UCAS Teacher Training Statistics [online]
September 2014: 3)147. With the possibility that those teachers within older age ranges
were also NQTs, the number of years teachers had taught became important for
confirming their level of teaching experience, and their chances of having taught
bereaved children. Table Six demonstrates that only two teachers were probationers.
TABLE SIX: Years of teaching
Under
1 year
1-4
years
5-10
years
11-15
years
16-20
years
21-25
years
26-30
years
31-
40+
Male
1
1
0
0
4
0
0
1
Female
1
4
5
3
5
7
3
2
Gender
unknown
0
1
2
1
0
0
0
0
TOTAL
2
6
7
4
9
7
3
3
The literature review cited religious decline as a contributory factor to cultural148 death
denial. As the era explored in the literature review covers a time in Britain that was
predominantly Christian or secular, and the sampled area was predominantly Christian
or secular, it was relevant to note from questionnaire findings how many respondents
were Christian, non-Christian or of another faith. Question four was phrased: ‘What
religion are you, if any?’ As it was, any respondent declaring a faith listed only Christian
denominations. The possibility was that teachers’ ease with discussing death with
children could have been affected if they were of faiths believing in an after-life.
Arguably, those teachers proclaiming Christianity as their religion were perhaps
reiterating learned family values rather than declaring current personal faith.
Furthermore, the activeness of respondents’ faith practice is impossible to gauge from
data, as the question of church attendance was not asked. Notwithstanding
ecclesiastical birth rights for the Church of England, however, had the respondents no
religious conviction it is assumed that they would answer ‘none’ for that question.
As some teachers were stating the specific denominations of Church of England (C. of
E.), Roman Catholic (R.C.) or Baptist, and others did not specify a denomination,
147 Figures taken from UCAS Teacher Training monthly statistics [online] Available at
http://www.ucas.com/sites/default/files/utt-applicant-statistics-15-sep-14-report-a.pdf (accessed
4.11.14)
148 Discounting other world religions, which discuss death openly.
113
separate denominations were replaced with the broader term ‘Christian,’ for ease of
findings analysis. Two teachers in C. of E. schools stated their religion as ‘agnostic’ or
‘none’ respectively and were recorded as non-Christian. Eight respondents left the
question unanswered, or wrote ‘not applicable,’ and to reflect the thesis target context,
were categorised as having no religion for ease of analysis. Table seven shows that
just under half of respondents answering the question (46 per cent) were Christian: five
Christian teachers taught in secular schools; ten taught in C. of E. schools; four in RC
schools. The need to preserve anonymity could have influenced seven teachers to
declare no school category, and four teachers to divulge no gender, thus causing non-
response bias. These results are tabulated below.
TABLE SEVEN: Type of school related to teacher’s religion and gender
Type of School
Gender/Faith
Secular
C. of E.
R.C.
Uncategorised
Male
Christian
1
2
0
1
Male
not-Christian
3
0
0
0
Female
Christian
4
8
4
6
Female
not-Christian
5
2
0
1
Unstated
gender
1 Christian
2 Christian
1 Christian
Teachers bereaved as children
I now turn to data showing which teachers were bereaved from death as children. It
could be that cultural ‘embarrassed denial’ (Lendrum and Syme [1992] 2004: 55)
infiltrating schools is more powerful at affecting the willingness of teachers to discuss
death and loss confidently with bereaved children than teachers’ own personal
experiences. Two main areas of thesis interest relate to whether the effects on
teachers bereaved by death as adults or as children, influences how they feel when
discussing bereavement with their own pupils. Tabulated results for those bereaved as
children are on the following page.
114
TABLE EIGHT: Teachers bereaved as children
Subject
Gender
Religion
Age
bereaved
Saw
deceased
Attended
funeral
2
male
Christian
teens
no
yes
4
female
Christian
teens
no
yes
12
male
Christian
teens
yes
yes
14
female
Christian
6-9
no
yes
15
female
Christian
teens
yes
yes
17
female
Christian
0-5
no
yes
28
female
Christian
6-9
no
yes
44
male
None
10
no
yes
46
female
Christian
0-5/6-9
no
yes
50
female
Christian
teens
no
no
51
female
Christian
10 and 12
no
no
64
female
Christian
Child/teens
yes
blank
79
female
Christian
6-9
no
no
82
female
Christian
teens
no
yes
83
unknown
Christian
0-5
no
no
84
female
Christian
6-9
no
no
85
unknown
Christian
0-5
no
no
92
female
Christian
10-12
no
no
93
male
Christian
teens
no
yes
94
female
Christian
teens
yes
yes
95
female
Christian
6-9
no
no
98
male
unknown
6-9
no
no
Twenty-two of the 41 respondents, about 54 per cent, were bereaved as children,
though the questionnaire did not press them on their relationship to the person who
died. Of those bereaved up to the age of nine, four attended the funeral and six did
not; of the thirteen bereaved at ten or in their teens all but three were at the funeral and
only four – all teenagers – saw the body. In questionnaire data, only subject (number
98) mentioned that their own childhood bereavement helped them as a teacher,
suggesting that either their role-model adult had been helpful, or that the experience
had somehow prepared them to talk with children. This finding is relevant to the thesis
for two reasons. Firstly, the literature examined in chapter two discusses the possible
detrimental effects on adults from disorganised attachments and unresolved loss.
115
Knowing, therefore, which respondents had been bereaved as children and their
involvement in, or exclusion from, death rituals and discussion about the deceased,
could usefully compare with whether they stated any problem talking to bereaved
children. It is not within the ethical remit of this research to enquire whether a childhood
loss had influenced teachers’ adult perception of bereaved pupils’ needs, unless that
information was willingly divulged. Nonetheless, the possibility exists that any
respondents lacking good childhood role-models could lack a basis for future
experiences (Dyregerov 2007: 72), such as discussing bereavement with pupils.
Secondly, the literature examined in chapter one suggests that the deaths of those
known to us have become hidden from general parlance as well as from sight, and that
this situation remains culturally constant in the twenty-first century. Subject number
seventy-nine, who was bereaved between the ages of six to nine, volunteered that they
would have liked to have attended the funeral, but were denied the opportunity. As
(regrettably, with hindsight) the questionnaire did not ask all respondents whether as
children they would have liked to attend a funeral, it is not possible to gauge whether
other teachers shared this regret. Some teachers did not know the reason for their non-
attendance. Seven teachers commented that relatives thought either that their
attendance was inappropriate, or that it would upset them too much. The possibility
exists that the adults were unsure how they would cope with an upset child, or as
discussed, did not wish for a child to witness upset adults, but this cannot be verified. It
does, however, accord with comments from children in the Time to Talk consultation
(DfE: 2007), whereby children were asked what helped them overcome bereavement
(DfE 2007: 4)149 .
Teachers bereaved as adults
Thirty-four teachers had been bereaved by death as adults, some more than once, and
all teachers had attended at least one funeral. Seventeen teachers had seen a dead
body, and most teachers had therefore experienced some degree of personal
understanding about grief, and mourning ritual. However, only four teachers agreed
that suffering bereavement had helped them talk with bereaved children. This
contradicts the suggestion above that experience of death might be enough to help
teachers talk with children, and supports the need for training. It is a significant finding,
149 Time to Talk consultation. [online] Available at
http://www.childhoodbereavementnetwork.org.uk/documents/TimeToTalkresponseformCBN.pdf
(accessed 28.11.14) also [online] at
https://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm?action=conResults&consultationId=1505
&external=no&menu=3 (accessed 6.7.16)
116
however, that the majority of teachers questioned had taught a bereaved child, and I
now turn to this data.
Professional experience
Questions twenty-six to thirty-six focused on whether teachers had taught bereaved
children, spoken about loss with them, and whether it was at the child’s request or the
teacher’s instigation. Ninety-three per cent of respondents (38 teachers) had at some
point in their career taught a bereaved child. Only four of that number did not speak
with the child about their loss and only one teacher suggested that Foundation Stage
children were too young to discuss bereavement.
TABLE NINE: Teachers who had taught and /or spoken with bereaved children
Taught bereaved
child
Spoke about child
with loss
Did not speak with
child about the loss
Had not taught the
bereaved child
38(+1) 34 4 2
(The +1 was a teacher where the child was in another class)
Thirty-four teachers (89 per cent) discussed loss with children, although only 31
children suggested it. Four children indicated no wish to do so. Although death was the
loss most teachers commented on not all losses cited were deaths; three children were
suffering losses associated with parental divorce, and all three children were spoken to
because of worsening behaviour, which corresponds with educational policy findings.
Only seven of the 34 teachers who said they had discussed losses with children, had
received any sort of training, either through staff meetings or inset. The educational
policy findings clarify that some teachers might worry about losing emotional control
and their professional persona, when discussing death with children, however, children
undoubtedly feel more able to show their own feelings if adults do not restrain theirs
(Bowlby 1980: 72).
Evidence from video reports for the consultation paper Time to Talk (DfE 2007: 6)
suggests that the main priority for bereaved children is that adults involve them in the
situation. Those bereaved children whose adults shared with them what was
happening were helped by such openness (ibid.), despite some adults criticising the
decision to include the child. It was therefore a useful support to the other findings to
117
know how many teachers in the sample had taught bereaved children, and how
respondents felt about this aspect of their professional life.
Teachers’ feelings on speaking with bereaved children
Question thirty-seven focused on how teachers felt about speaking with bereaved
children, however, only thirteen of the thirty-four who had spoken with a child
commented in the space provided, suggesting that talking about feelings is difficult.
The question was phrased:
Please comment overleaf on how discussing the loss(es) was for you. If you feel you
needed more help in the situation, what would have helped you?
Moreover, the low response-rate to question thirty-seven suggests that some teachers
were reluctant to discuss personal feelings. This could be influenced by one of several
factors: unresolved childhood grief; embarrassment from an acknowledged lack of
professional ability; the possibility of a recent bereavement, or pure pragmatism that it
would take too long to write the answer. From those who did reply, seven of the
thirteen respondents commented that discussions with bereaved children were, in
some way, at some time, ‘difficult’ or ‘hard’ (Table 10).
Replies also suggest the importance to teachers of ‘knowing what to say’ or ‘having the
answers,’ possibly because there are professional expectations from the public and
from the teaching profession, that teachers will fulfil high standards and demonstrate
excellent subject knowledge. This last theory is supported by research from Ofsted,
which connects high quality teaching with teacher’s subject knowledge (Ofsted 2012:
question 1)150. However, five teachers were more positive about the situation, with two
citing the importance of good listening skills.
150 House of Commons Education Committee: Written Evidence Submitted by Ofsted. [online]
Available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmeduc/1515/1515we28.htm
(accessed 7.2.15)
118
TABLE TEN: How teachers felt discussing losses with children
Subject no
Comment
23
Difficult, because I find children find [it] hard to explain.
46
As an experienced teacher and with children of my own, it was ok to
talk to the child-I felt quite comfortable. (However in the early years of
teaching I had felt less comfortable when the situation arose).
50
It helped as I was in a similar place having lost both parents.’
64
I wanted to ‘have all the answers’ but felt at a loss as to how to really
help the child.
77
Hard to know what to say.’
81
It can be difficult/uncomfortable but once you have ‘broken the ice’ it is
beneficial.
83
I think it is difficult to do but the loss of my own father is still a very
sore and tearful place so I feel able to talk to the children and being a
Catholic school with a strong ethos helps.
86
As the child was open I felt confident at dealing with the situation. I
knew I needed to be sensitive and a good listener.
91
I try to bring my own experiences into the situation and listen. It can be
upsetting to see a child upset but I see no harm in letting a child see
that you are moved by their grief.
94
I think suicide is probably the hardest bereavement to discuss. Mother
of child went into premature labour with shock. Cousin taken into care.
Very difficult situation. Best advice to listen to worries/concerns.
95
I do not have a class so can offer time to children.
96
It would have been helpful to know what to do when he was so
distressed he cried for three days.
98
Having experienced parental death at a young age, I felt I could listen
and then discuss.
Training
Despite some teachers stating that they had difficulties discussing bereavement with
children, not all teachers unanimously agreed that training would help them. The
questions here asked whether they had had any inset days/staff training meetings
about how to deal with loss, death and bereavement (Q.51) and whether any such
event had been in the previous three years(Q.51a); whether it had helped/would help to
have one (Q.51c) and finally whether they felt that future training for bereavement
would make it easier to discuss death and loss on an everyday basis.(Q.54).
Out of 41 respondents, only eleven teachers (27%) stated that they had had any staff
meetings or inset days, eight of which had been in the last three years.
119
TABLE ELEVEN: Number of teachers responding to questions 51 and 51(a)
Yes No Blank
Staff meeting/inset 11 27 1
Last 3 years 8
One respondent volunteered that the school had held a staff meeting more than three
years ago following a child’s death. This accords with the findings in a later chapter
(educational policy) that teachers tend to have a passive approach to discussing death,
only doing so when needed. Although the schools in which individual teachers work
were anonymous, the consecutive numbering of questionnaires reveals which
respondents were from the same school. Those replies stating that teachers had
experienced staff meetings in the last three years were not numbered consecutively so
they were therefore from different schools within the sample, rather than all from the
same schools. These contradictory answers might be accounted for by teachers
joining the school more recently, or memory lapses, but as a result some doubt is cast
on the reliability of those answers.
Relevant staff meetings and inset (Q. 51c)
As to whether such meetings would help or have indeed helped, the comments varied
greatly.
TABLE TWELVE: Would it/does it help to have them?
Blank
No
Unsure
Yes
6
5
14
16
Whilst 34 per cent of respondents were unsure if staff meetings and inset helped, 39
per cent agreed they had, or would, and only seven per cent disagreed. Some
respondents further qualified their answer to the question with a comment:
TABLE THIRTEEN: Comments on relevant staff meetings/Inset
Subject
COMMENT
4
Not whole staff meetings, but part of meetings-had staff meeting led by
play therapist on how play supports children suffering from loss, etc.
17
It would be good to have staff training on bereavement and other
issues such as parents splitting up.
18
But only if the trained support staff come into contact with a bereaved
child.
28
I would feel more confident in supporting my pupils.
120
64
Staff meetings made me more aware, however I am not sure I feel
better equipped to deal with loss/death.
93
It is a high possibility [that it would help] and an area I would expect the
L.A.151 to take a lead in.
Table thirteen shows that whilst some teachers considered that training might be useful
for improving awareness and confidence, others had misgivings that they would
become ‘better equipped’. However, despite already disagreeing with the usefulness of
staff meeting/inset days (question 51a) subject number twenty-three confirmed
(question 51c) that some training would make it easier to discuss death and loss on an
everyday basis. The responses show contradictory answers from subject twenty-three,
suggesting disparity in answers for other respondents. As Inset days are usually
planned for months ahead to cover a range of subjects, it is possible that what the
respondent disagreed with was staff meetings and Inset days being used for the
purpose of death education. The next question related to managing bereaved children
in school, asking whether training would help discuss death and loss more easily on a
daily basis:
TABLE FOURTEEN: (Q. 54)
With training, would you find it easier to discuss death and loss on a daily basis?
Yes
No
Unsure
Blank
Had
training
Comments
indicating ‘No’
15
5
15
3
1
2
Those teachers agreeing that staff meetings had helped them, almost equalled the
number of teachers confirming that training would help daily discussions of death and
loss. Furthermore, an almost equal number of respondents answered ‘unsure’ as they
did ‘yes’ for both questions 51c and 54. As the type of training offered was not clarified,
it can be assumed that those unsure were not necessarily refusing an offer of training,
merely doubting how it would help them. Had there been an answer from the three
unresponsive teachers, either category could have attracted a higher percentage.
Nonetheless, the findings show only seven per cent of teachers stating ‘no’ to staff-
meetings and inset, and twelve per cent of teachers stating ‘no’ to other training. These
are low numbers.
151 L.A. is either the Local Education Authority, or the school LSA, learning support assistant.
121
Policies for Death and Loss Education
Providing training support for discussing bereavements with children would allow
teachers to be more professionally confident. However, findings for educational policy
have ascertained that it is unlikely that a school will allot funds for any CPD in other
than curriculum subjects and possibly SEN. The questionnaire findings show that when
talking with bereaved children, eight teachers used euphemisms, particularly if the child
or the child’s parents did. However, the literature review suggests that children given
hints rather than truth can end up confused. Without a school policy on death and loss
education, in which training is given and euphemisms are excluded from practice, an
ethos can evolve whereby teachers are following personal preferences rather than
clear guidelines on procedure. The educational policy findings reveal that internal
school policies for death and loss are scarce and the questionnaire findings support
this conclusion. While the sample area is small, it nonetheless contributes to the
previous research by Shipman et al (2001) and is likely to be representative of other
similar geographical areas.
Is there a written policy for Death and Loss Education? (Q.45)
It was assumed when sending out questionnaires to schools that teachers would know
if there was a policy for death and loss education, since policies are generally written
by a staff member and discussed, updated, and agreed upon in staff meetings before
being forwarded to Governors. In the sample of teachers, however, all but three
teachers stated ‘don’t know’ to question forty-five, while two teachers answered ‘yes’
and one teacher replied ‘in progress’. Given the time that had passed since the original
questionnaire, it was decided that this piece of information should be updated to reflect
the current situation in schools. This decision followed a presentation of draft thesis
material given to a group of teacher-researchers after which several teachers declared
that their schools did have such a policy. Whilst my intuition was that the teacher-
researchers in question were thinking of Critical Incident policies, rather than a policy
defining how death and loss would be managed by all staff on a daily basis, it was
nonetheless possible that the questionnaire content had alerted schools to the need for
a policy and one had since been written.
As I could not verify whether the schools in question were included in the sample
without breaching confidentiality, the headteachers of the sampled schools were all
asked whether or not they now had a policy for daily death and loss. The letter sent
(See Appendix) was countersigned by the former head of the school of primary
education at the University of Chichester, and clarified that the question related not to
122
Critical Incident policy, which all schools should have, as outlined by the Department
for Education and Science (DES) (2007)152, but to a policy for managing daily death
and loss. Although this was already stated on the questionnaire as part of question
sixty-one, teachers may have overlooked the phrase. It was confirmed that in the
intervening time between the original questionnaire and the new letter to headteachers,
no sample schools had written a policy for managing daily bereavement. The additional
data indicates that there is some misunderstanding in schools between Critical
Incident, and death and loss education policies.
One school did state that it was something they would appreciate help with, however,
discussion with the supervisory team suggested that results could be skewed if I
offered that help before thesis submission. Nonetheless, the results clarify that there
was no death and loss education policy in any of the sample schools, suggesting that
death and loss education remains low profile. However, an additional reason for the
absence of policies might emanate from which teacher should write and implement
them.
Action-plan
Furthermore, when asked if there was a whole-school action-plan for dealing with
bereavement, twenty-three teachers thought there was not, five thought there was,
nine were unsure and four replies were left blank. Some teachers linked together
anything that could be a plan, without distinguishing between them.
Positive comments included:
SUBJECT 2. ‘We have an emergency plan including sad and critical events’.
SUBJECT 4: ‘Not exactly “action plan”, but part of whole-school approach of listening,
being available at all times for children, working with other agencies.’
Consecutive numbering of questionnaires showed that other teachers in the same
schools disagreed that any such action-plan existed, however the discrepancy could
have emerged from interpretation of the phrase ‘action-plan’ and is therefore not a
reliable indication of whether or not a plan existed or how high profile it was.
152 DES (2007) Responding to Critical Incidents. Guidelines for Schools. [online] Available at
http://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/National-Educational-Psychological-
Service-NEPS-/neps_critical_incidents _guidelines_schools.pdf (accessed 7.2.15)
123
Responsibility for Death and Loss Education
Knowing whether there was a staff member responsible for death and loss education
(question 59) and whether there should be (question 60), was included to explore
teachers’ attitudes to having a designated person for this role. Teachers who answered
‘yes’ to the need for someone were also asked what difference they thought it would
make to them.
TABLE FIFTEEN: Responsibility for Death and Loss Education
Question 59
Is someone
responsible for death
and loss education?
Yes
6
No
14
Not sure
19
Blank
2
Question 60
Should there be?
Yes
19
No
10
Not sure
4
Blank
8
As this table shows, only six respondents stated that someone in their school was
responsible for death and loss education, with nineteen teachers (46 %) unsure. If the
initiative were prominent, teachers should have known whom to approach, in the same
way that all teachers must know who to refer to for issues of child protection.
Significantly, nineteen teachers (46 %) thought that there should be someone
responsible. Furthermore, there were eight blank replies whose completion could have
increased either figure, and exemplifies response-bias (Cresswell 2014: 162). Possibly,
some teachers had past experience of supporting an initiative, then becoming solely
responsible for it. The ten teachers choosing a ‘no’ answer for question sixty might
have considered this a reason for answering negatively. Having a support team could
rectify this, so that several teachers could take on the role. Several comments reflect
the need for a point of contact for teachers to refer to for support, ideas and discussion;
an ethos in line with the Subject Leader role in primary schools.
124
Nonetheless, when teachers were asked what difference they thought it would make to
have a person responsible for death and loss education (Table 16), answers included
having someone ‘to take the pressure off’, ‘who has the responsibility and
understanding of dealing with this’, ‘to know where to turn to immediately’ or for
someone to be the ‘designated person for the child to talk to’. All replies suggest a
hope to not be that teacher themselves. Moreover, the high number of teachers
agreeing that there should be someone responsible for death and loss in their school
links to aims frequently stated in reports cited in the educational policy chapter:
improving the wellbeing of British children.
TABLE SIXTEEN: What difference would it make to have someone responsible?
Subject
Comment
1
Someone to get ideas from.
12
Someone to lead/ take the responsibility to prompt others/ ensure
that it doesn’t get overlooked.
15
To give a route for discussion/talk.
16
To know where to turn to immediately.
17
They can check that provision is in place for dealing with death, and
help staff teach the subject of loss in a sensitive way.
23
Would be someone to look to.
28
A good port of call.
38
Keep relevant literature and information. Attend any courses.
43
Someone to go to for support and advice.
75
It would mean that if a child needed to speak to someone as a class
teacher I could seek advice and act appropriately. Alternatively, the
child could speak to the designated person.
82
Someone who could advise on useful resources, approaches, etc.
85
Point of contact. Link with RC ethos/prayers.
86
So there is a main person that has the responsibility and
understanding of dealing with this.
93
I would hope that they would have been properly trained and able to
cope subjectively. They would have been chosen for their skills and
attributes. Pressure taken off those who may be expected to cope.
96
As PSHCE co-ordinator, I have been on courses previously and
found them helpful. It may well be yet another PSHCE hat to wear!
The lack of teachers trained to recognise grief symptoms in children, and so alleviate
bereavement distress in some way, is also linked to the educational policy findings
which discusses the Elton report (1989) and the possible benefits to troubled children
from provision of school-based counselling. Questions 48, 49 and 50 were therefore
125
included in the questionnaire to assess the provision of school-based counselling, and
to gauge teachers’ views on provision.
Counsellors in schools
The educational policy findings demonstrate that school-based counselling can help
improve the behaviour of many troubled children. As discussed, the local County
Council for the sampled area no longer funds a school-based counselling service for
individual schools on a regular basis (by email 2014: see Appendix). Furthermore,
whilst some schools utilise the Pupil Premium to purchase external counselling help,
others do not. At the time of sending out questionnaires, however, the counselling grid
for the purposive sample showed that there was still a county-run school-based
counselling service. In order to assess the number of counsellors in schools at that
time, and teachers’ opinions on their usefulness, respondents were asked questions
relating to the counsellor assignment to their schools. The replies demonstrate not only
that the role of a counsellor is not fully understood, with some teachers assuming that
an assigned school nurse fulfils this role, but also that some teachers were unaware
whether a bereavement counsellor served their school. This again demonstrates the
low profile of bereavement resources. Teachers who confirmed that their school was
assigned a counsellor, were asked to say whether they were full-time or not.
The two main questions asked are shown in this table:
TABLE SEVENTEEN: Availability of counselling
Question 48
Is there a professional bereavement
counsellor assigned to your school?
Part-time
9
Full-time
0
No
16
Don’t know
14
Blank
1
Other
A school nurse
Question 49
Should there be one?
Yes
15
No
11
Unsure
12
Blank
2
126
Sixteen schools reported no counsellor assigned to them, relying on the headteacher
financing help when considered necessary, or teachers managing situations
themselves. The fifteen teachers who said that a counsellor should be assigned to their
school were asked to comment in what way it would help, and eighteen teachers
responded.
TABLE EIGHTEEN: What difference would a counsellor make? (q. 60)
Subject
COMMENT
1
Resources would be useful.
3
A named person is a safety net for support.
4
Play therapist offers bereavement counselling.
12
Someone special to talk to.
14
We have a counsellor. Don’t know if she is a professional
bereavement counsellor.
15
Being able to talk and be heard.
16
Somewhere to talk to when need to talk without having the hassle of
going through GP.
17
I think it would give children and staff the opportunity to discuss
difficult feelings instead of bottling them up and trying to carry on as if
nothing has happened.
18
Professional approach to serious and life changing situations crucial.
Other staff could be inept, ill named, overstretched or inadequate to
the job.
23
Would be someone to look to.
28
More equipped to deal with bereavement.
80
Someone impartial to talk to.
82
Valuable to have someone who is trained to understand such issues,
and support those who need it.
83
School nurse does this.
86
I think the type of school we are (army-based school) it would be
beneficial.
93
Experience is an area rarely considered. Advice and support for all.
95
Trained staff member with counselling skills.
96
Sometimes the children get back into the routine of school without
their feelings being fully addressed and may cause problems later.
Having someone to talk things over with, trained to understand and supply support,
was a repeated reason from teachers for why a counsellor would help. Subject number
ninety-six reported that problems can occur later if grief is not addressed at the time
and admitted to having wanted help for a very distressed child. This finding agrees with
127
the literature review, stating that adult mental health can be affected by earlier,
unresolved bereavement issues. It is not possible to say whether other teachers
thought similarly, but did not consider it relevant to comment. Most teachers reported
that children suffering loss displayed behaviour that was abnormal for them, as table 19
shows, although it isn’t known whether they immediately recognised bereavement as a
cause.
TABLE NINETEEN: Observed outward signs of bereavement
Quieter
Aggressive
Tearful
Moody
Argumentative
Clingy
18
5
17
7
2
12
Three children were stated as being either attention-seeking, distracted or lacking
concentration. All these signs are those expected from the reviewed literature on
attachment and loss.
Teachers’ awareness of guidelines to support them
However, the number of teachers aware of guidelines to help them whilst waiting for a
counsellor was very low. Teachers were asked if they knew of the Support for Loss
guidelines (2004); or used the SEAL (2005)153 guidelines for relationships, which
covers ‘loss’, or had heard of the outside agencies: Cruse, Winston’s Wish, Childline,
CBN, or any other.
TABLE TWENTY: (Qs. 57 and 58)
Teachers knowing of and/or using ‘Support for loss’ guidelines
and SEAL ‘Loss’ relationships curriculum
Support for
Loss
guidelines
Support for
Loss
guidelines
SEAL ‘loss’
relationships
curriculum
SEAL ‘loss’
relationships
curriculum
Know of it
Use it
Know of it
Use it
Yes
11
6
28
16*
No
29
33
11
17**
Non-response
1
2
2
8
Comments
In part*
Not yet**
153 Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning. Although not funded by Government now, it is still
used in schools.
128
TABLE TWENTY-ONE: Teachers aware of external bereavement agencies (Q. 63)
Cruse
Winston’s
Wish
Childline
CBN
Other
Yes
17
19
39
7
3*
No
17
17
0
23
Non-response
6
5
2
11
38
Seventy-one per cent of teachers were unaware of the guidelines Support for Loss
(****: 2004), which were written due to some schools not being proactive at teaching
loss (see appendix email). They were available to all headteachers in primary schools
within the county, and at some point, would have been accessible to school staff. An
even higher number of teachers, eighty per cent, did not refer to the guidelines despite
knowing of them. Similarly, sixty-eight per cent of teachers knew of the SEAL
guidelines for loss, but only thirty-nine per cent had ever used therm. As with previous
results, non-responses could have altered the findings, and it is unknown which
percentage would increase. What is known is that even when teachers are aware of
helpful publications, they do not necessarily use them. This could be from a preference
not to use up PPA154 time, (Teachers Pay and Conditions DfE 2014: 47, para. 52.18),
making presentations at staff meeting directed time 155 preferable. This would enable
shared reading, and discussion could occur. Arguably, a tendency for a passive
approach suggests that teachers might only refer to guidelines when death and loss
occurs.
The discussed possibility that culture infiltrates a primary school is apparent from the
results determining which external loss-related charities the respondents knew of.
Childline,156 begun in 1986157 by Esther Rantzen and highly publicised in the 1980s
through the media (Harrison 2012: 283) was the best known, with ninety-nine per cent
of respondents aware of it. Only seven teachers, seventeen per cent, had heard of the
CBN, despite their online publication, links with NCB for the national campaign Grief
154 Planning, Preparation and Assessment time.
155 There are 1265 hours of directed time each year, 195 days, in which a teacher is expected to
be available for duty (Teachers Pay and Conditions, 2014, p47: para. 52.18) [online] Available
at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/341951/School_t
eachers__pay_and_conditions_2014.pdf (accessed 16.2.15)
156 Childline is a service for children with online chat, a freephone telephone number and the
opportunity for children to speak with counsellors about bereavement and other issues. [online]
Available at
http://www.childline.org.uk/talk/asksam/emotions/bereavement/Pages/Bereavement.aspx
(accessed 13.2.15)
157 History of Childline [online] Available at http://adc.bmj.com/content/82/4/283.full (accessed
13.2.15)
129
Matters (April 2009)158 and patronage of the late Diana, Princess of Wales159. Despite
being the leading bereavement charity in the United Kingdom160 with a base in the
geographical sampled area, only forty-six per cent of respondents knew of Winston’s
Wish. It appears that although the previously discussed revival of death through the
media has alerted teachers to Childline, local resources that could be utilised in
schools were relatively unknown. It was expected that teachers might mention The
Snowdrop Trust as an ‘other’ since their work is known in the sample area of Southern
England161 and their services to schools are free. There was a high proportion of non-
response to this question (Table 20) and only one teacher named the Trust.
Curriculum
It is clear from responses, that notwithstanding the existence of SEAL guidelines for
schools, there are few known resources for teachers and few curriculum areas for
preparing children for bereavement, despite over 24,000 children a year being
bereaved162. Despite the recent introduction of Free Schools, 163autonomy in state-
maintained classrooms164 reduced following the abolition of the Schools Council in
1984. The educational policy findings disclose that the introduction of the National
Curriculum and National Attainment Tests, focusing teachers’ time on tested subjects,
have affected teachers’ relationships with children. It is therefore plausible that the
affective component of education remains side-lined in the twenty-first century, despite
thesis evidence that children’s wellbeing in Britain is suffering. This makes it relevant to
know whether schools accommodated death and loss in the curriculum.
Do you cover death and loss as part of your school curriculum? (Q.55)
This question was asked due to work by Jackson and Colwell (2002: 109), who note
that the national curriculum creates opportunities for discussing death and
bereavement, and secondly, because of the report by the Association for Children with
Life-threatening or Terminal Conditions (ACT) to the Select Committee for Health,
158 Grief Matters. [online] Available at http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/archive/2009-jan-jun/48
(accessed 2.3.15)
159 CBN in affiliation with NCB. [online] Available at http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/archive/2009-
jan-jun/48 (accessed 2.3.15)
160 Winston’s Wish [online] Available at http://www.winstonswish.org.uk/about-us/facts-and-
figures/ (accessed 2.3.15)
161 Catchment area map for the ******** Snowdrop Trust [online] Available at
http://www.the*********xsnowdroptrust.com/about-us/our-catchment-area/ (accessed 10.2.15)
162 Winston’s Wish [online] Available at http://www.winstonswish.org.uk/about-us/facts-and-
figures/ (accessed 2.3.15)
163 Free Schools have more freedom to choose their curriculum. [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/types-of-school/free-schools (21.9.15)
164 Questionnaires were sent when Academies and Free Schools were newly legislated and as
such, only state-maintained schools were sampled
130
stating that death can be ‘a natural element of many other subjects’ (ACT: PC38A, July
2004: 26)165. Whether or not death education was already being integrated in the
curriculum of sampled schools was therefore relevant for showing whether any
progress had been made in this area. The results for inclusion were:
TABLE TWENTY-TWO: Is death and loss covered in your school curriculum?
Yes
No
Unsure
Non-
response
22
6
10
3
Six teachers confirmed that they covered death and loss through religious education
(R.E.) and twelve teachers cited PSHCE (renamed PSHE in 2008)166. However,
comments clarify that teachers mainly refer to a curriculum subject to help them, only
when circumstances require it. This is despite the national non-statutory guidance for
teaching R.E. in English schools, including a stipulation that schools should ‘encourage
pupils to play a full part in their own learning in R.E’. as individuals, using their own
experience and background to reflect on questions of truth and morality and deeper
meanings of life and death (DCSF 2010: 33). Furthermore, in the local Agreed Syllabus
for R.E., discussions on death are only included in the curriculum for Key Stage Two167,
leaving children aged four to seven with no particular curriculum requirements lending
themselves to discussion. Equally, from 2014, PSHE is no longer a statutory subject
within the new primary curriculum for state-maintained schools. An independent review
for the Department for Children, School and Families (DCSF: 2009) undertaken by Sir
Alasdair Macdonald explored the proposal for statutory provision of PSHE, however,
the report concludes that the subject should remain non-statutory (DfE: 2013).168
It is therefore dubious to expect that all primary schools will give equal prestige to
identical elements of PSHE but will select by preference. Moreover, despite an Ofsted
PSHE Report (2013) commenting on the ‘correlation between the grades that the
schools in the survey were awarded for overall effectiveness in their last section 5
165 As stated in my article in R.E. Today(Gray: January 2009)
166 The History of PSHE [online] Available at
http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/pdfs/2009-macdonald-pshe.pdf (accessed
27.2.15).
167 Agreed Syllabus 2008. (2008: .24, s.h).
168 DfE (11.9.2013) Guidance PSHE Education [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-social-health-and-economic-education-
pshe/personal-social-health-and-economic-pshe-education
(accessed 27.2.15)
131
inspection, and their grade for PSHE education’169(PSHE Association: 2014),170 the
only agreed stipulation to date is that schools ‘should make provision drawing on good
practice’ (DfE 2013: 2.5)171 and that schools should include on their website their
curriculum for PSHE (PSHE Association: 2014)172. There is therefore no confirmation
that death and loss would be met through the PSHE curriculum.
Using books
From the information on accommodating death and loss in the curriculum, and to
support my findings from the areas of children’s literature and developmental
bibliotherapy, the questionnaire asked teachers if they used books for helping children
with loss. One teacher stated they would like to use stories and poems, but had not yet
done so. Only one teacher commented that it was something they felt inadequate for.
With books readily available as a relatively inexpensive resource in schools, twenty-
seven teachers (sixty-six per cent) confirmed that they had used books to help
bereaved children. However as forty-four per cent of teachers had not, it suggests that
some respondents had not considered the strategy. Ten teachers confirmed that their
school had an available library of books available to discuss bereavement, although
they had not used them. The findings suggest a problem for class teachers.
On the one hand, a book may be the only available resource at short notice.
Conversely, although the bibliotherapy findings recommend that books can be used as
a start to problem solving, they also suggest that teachers should have a thorough
understanding of childhood bereavement for the process to be successful. Clearly, the
majority of teachers in the sample using books are untrained for supporting
bereavement. Nonetheless, whilst it is unknown how much can be achieved by a
teacher unsupported by trained counsellors, the responses demonstrate that despite
the lack of counsellor provision, teachers are sharing books with bereaved children, as
shown:
169 PHCE Association Current Curriculum Guidelines. [online] Available at https://www.pshe-
association.org.uk/content.aspx?CategoryID=1053 (accessed 27.2.15)
170 PHCE Association Current Curriculum Guidelines. [online] Available at https://www.pshe-
association.org.uk/content.aspx?CategoryID=1053 (accessed 27.2.15)
171 DfE (11.9. 2013) Guidance PSHE Education [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-social-health-and-economic-education-
pshe/personal-social-health-and-economic-pshe-education
(accessed 27.2.15)
172 PHCE Association Current Curriculum Guidelines. [online] Available at https://www.pshe-
association.org.uk/content.aspx?CategoryID=1053 (accessed 27.2.15
132
TABLE TWENTY-THREE:
Comments from teachers about using books with bereaved children
Occasion has not arisen, other than the book at 47a [Badger’s Parting Gift] for the
death of a pet.
Not had to. Not sure if I would be the best person to do this.
Yes. Read through and discuss.
Yes, e.g. Badger’s Parting Gift; Waterbugs and Dragonflies.
I have done in the past.
I do have books but haven’t needed to use them.
Yes- reading stories raising discussion and allows discussion.
Sharing the book.
Winston’s Wish publications.
Books are available but I have not had to use them at present school.
Yes I would have thought so.
Not sure.
I don’t but would like to use stories or poetry.
Haven’t done so to date.
As part of PSHCE curriculum.
The literature review suggests that repercussions for children from divorce, which is
now a more common loss for children than parental death, contribute greatly to
bereavement grief. The books Two Homes (Masurel and Denton 2002), Two of
Everything (Cole 2000) and It’s Not Your Fault Koko Bear (Lansky and Prince 1998)
two of which are analysed in the children’s literature findings, all try and deal positively
with the result of divided family homes arising from separated or divorced parents.
Although discussed above that divorce within ten years of marriage is prevalent
amongst families of primary school age children only three teachers (seven per cent)
had used books that address that situation (Table 23). This suggests either that
teachers are largely unaware that children’s grief from divorce can in the short-term be
similar to grief from death, or that they generally evade discussing divorce with children
for fear of annoying parents.
133
TABLE TWENTY-FOUR: Number of teachers using specific books
Titles
Teachers using book
Badger’s Parting Gifts
25
Dogger
18
Goodbye Mousie
1
Two Homes
3
Two of Everything
0
The Fall of Freddie the Leaf
0
Goodbye Mog
7
Goodbye Daddy
2
It’s Not Your Fault Koko Bear
0
Lifetimes
0
TABLE TWENTY-FIVE: Other titles mentioned
Granpa 2
Waterbugs and Dragonflies 3
Grandad 1
Heaven 1
I’ll Always Love You 2
My Bunny Died Last Night 1
Grandma Bill 1
The two most-used titles for loss were Badger’s Parting Gifts (Varley 2013) read by
sixty-one per cent of teachers and Dogger (Hughes 2009), which features a lost stuffed
dog, read by 44 per cent of teachers. However, although the book Dogger (Hughes
2009), is available in most Key Stage One classrooms for shared reading, its theme is
transient loss rather than intransient. The children’s literature findings have remarked
on using anthropomorphic books such as Badger’s Parting Gifts (Varley 2013) to talk
about loss with children. Using a book with animal protagonists can allow the
circumvention of children’s more difficult questions regarding human death, which a
teacher might feel unequipped to answer. However, only seven teachers (17 %) used
the book Goodbye Mog (Kerr 2003), which features a dying cat, suggesting book
choice may partly be due to availability.
134
Interpretation of ‘Good Death’
Having gained an overview of teachers’ experiences, attitudes to discussing death and
loss and how many teachers considered themselves Christian,173 I now turn to a
category on the questionnaire related to respondents’ understanding of the phrase
‘good death’. The findings are significant for making an original contribution to
knowledge, and for adding research to the field for whether perception of what
constitutes a ‘good death’ has now changed. As there is likelihood that schools reflect
twenty-first century perceptions of death, and as this might affect the ease with which
teachers speak with bereaved children, it was a worthwhile area of interest to be
explored.
Open questions
Initially, question five was the open question: ‘What do you think a good death would
be?’ However, following pilot-group feedback and taking account of criticism of open
questions by Redline, Dillman, Carley-Baxter and Creecy (2002)174 the style of
question was changed. Redline et al (2002) suggest that respondents spend too long
writing replies to open questions, making them overlook instructions, and provide less
useful answers (Redline et al 2002, cited by Cohen Manion and Morrison 2007: 331).
Subsequently, before sending questionnaires to schools, question five was altered to
meet two requirements: space was retained for respondents’ personal comments,
which fulfilled a ‘blue skies’ approach (Cohen et al 2007: 41) to gain a fuller picture,
and it was supported by prompts.
Prompts
Cohen, Manion and Morrison suggest the use of prompts on questionnaires because ‘it
is useful for the researcher to provide some support for respondents, so that they know
the kind of reply being sought’ (Cohen et al 2007: 330). The conceptual framework of
the literature review influenced the prompts, which were: pain-free; quick; at peace with
God; controlled by the dying person; in hospital; at home; unconscious. Whilst prompts
possibly discouraged alternative answers, creating response bias, clarifying categories
to avoid ambiguity could nonetheless have ensured less misunderstanding of the type
of answer sought (Cohen et al 2007: 224). However, the order of phrases written by
respondents from the available prompts, suggests that teachers worked through them
chronologically, selecting on sight those phrases considered most applicable.
173 This thesis realises that this is not synonymous with church attendance.
174 Redline, Dillman, Carley-Baxter and Creecy (2002)
135
Question order
As only three respondents did not answer the question, there is support for
acknowledging the pilot-group feedback. The suggestion was to move question five
from the later position of number fifty-one (a) and it is likely that earlier question-order
position increased chances of it being answered. This is a strategy validated by
Krosnick and Alwin (1987) and more recently, Dillman, Smyth, Christian and Stern
(2003), who found that earlier listed items on questionnaires are given greater weight
than later ones (Dillman et al 2003: 6, cited by Cohen et al 2007: 324). This would be
especially probable if respondents read through the whole questionnaire before writing.
However, whilst the possibility of a primacy effect could have been explored using a
positivist methodology, whereby half the sent questionnaires ordered prompt-answers
differently, had respondents been asked to order their answers hierarchically, it would
have been clearer whether some statements were more valued than others.
Counteracting this possible shortcoming, there was additional space for respondents to
personally develop their answer, thus providing ‘a window of opportunity for the
respondent to shed light on an issue or course’ (Cohen at al 2007: 331).
Respondents’ relationship to religion
Seven teachers, all of whom declared a Christian denomination, selected the prompt
‘with God’ for their understanding of ‘good death’. Five were female, one male, one
undeclared gender, and apart from one teacher who did not state their school-type, all
worked in faith schools175. Five of them were in the 42-50 age-range, and two were
aged 51-60 (Table 26).
TABLE TWENTY-SIX: Christian teachers aged 42-60, in faith schools,
equating ‘good death’ as being ‘with God’
Subject
Aged 42-50
Aged 51-60
Male
1
Female
3
2
Gender undeclared
1
It is feasible that teachers in these age ranges could have been influenced by a range
of factors: inherited cultural values from grandparents or parents; respondents’
personal experiences; adult religious views, or a combination of those factors, any of
which could have influenced teachers’ understanding of ‘good’ deaths. Teachers within
these age ranges would have been born between 1949 and 1969, at a time when the
175 Those schools financially aided by a particular religion or denomination within that religion.
136
rise in secularisation encouraged greater individualism of belief. However their parents,
and particularly grandparents, could have experienced a world before the inter-war
years where religious observance and mourning ritual prevailed, and where religious
funerals continued strongly. Nonetheless, eighteen teachers who stated they were
Christian did not choose a religious meaning for a ‘good death’ (Table 27). Of the
eighteen, six teachers worked in secular schools, six in faith schools and six in schools
uncategorised on the questionnaire. Two teachers, one in a faith school and one in a
secular school, omitted an answer.
It is not possible to say why only some Christian teachers defined a ‘good death’ as
‘with God’. It is possible that those teachers not choosing a religious definition were
only nominally Christian and to them other factors were more important, however, the
findings in this chapter concord with the literature review which states that religious
meaning for ‘good death’ has become less significant since the wars. Furthermore,
answers could have been affected by respondents having witnessed the painful death
of a relative, or been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness themselves.
TABLE TWENTY- SEVEN: Christian teachers not choosing
religious statement for a ‘good death’, by age and gender
Faith School
Secular School
School unknown
Christian Male
Age 21-25
1
26-35
36-41
1
1
42-50
51-60
Christian Female
Age 21-25
1
1
1
26-35
1
1
2
36-41
1
1
42-50
1
2
51-60
1
1
Gender unknown
36-41
1
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Other responses
Respondents’ answers comprised mostly of supplied prompts, however, some
respondents added personal statements, such as subject number twelve who
answered ‘Knowing Jesus’. An interesting finding from the data supports the literature
review, in which is suggested that the dying and particularly the elderly infirm, become
‘invisible’ and ‘hidden’ in hospitals and hospices. This increases likelihood that many
will be denied the opportunity to die at home (Hockey 2008: 193), creating communities
where hidden death can be conveniently ‘denied’ by the living. As only eight
respondents (nineteen per cent) selected the ‘at home’ prompt, this suggests a cultural
preference for deaths to be medicalised and institutionalised. Respondents choosing
‘at home’ also chose the prompt ‘pain-free,’ and it is possible that it was assumed that
a home death would be medicalised and also painless (Table 28).
TABLE TWENTY-EIGHT:
Prompt comments defining ‘good death’ chosen by respondents
Subj
Pain
free
Quick
With
God
In
control
Hospital
Home
Uncons
-cious
1
x
x
2
x
3
x
4
x
x
12
x
14
x
x
15
x
x
x
x
16
x
x
17
x
18
no
prompt
23
no
prompt
28
x
38
x
x
39
x
42
x
43
x
x
44
x
45
x
x
46
x
x
50
x
x
x
x
51
blank
64
x
75
x
x
77
x
79
blank
138
80
x
In sleep
81
x
x
In sleep
82
blank
83
x
x
84
x
x
85
x
In sleep
86
x
88
x
91
In sleep
92
x
x
93
x
x
94
no
prompt
95
x
96
x
x
x
In sleep
98
x
In sleep
100
x
x
In sleep
CHART ONE: Above table in graph format
From the findings, it is impossible to establish whether the respondents who chose the
prompt ‘at home’ had experienced the death of a relative either in institutions or at
home. It is also unknown whether the respondents’ preference for home death would,
in reality, have been affected by: their own age, the age and medical condition of the
dying person, the need for twenty-four hour palliative care, the controversial Liverpool
139
Care Pathway176 or the wish for assisted dying. Clearly, ambiguous findings require
conjecture on the part of the researcher, and are based on interpreting patterns and
trends in findings, to unravel the possible intention of respondents. Only one
respondent selected the prompt ‘controlled by the dying person’. The finding is
significant due to the failure of the Assisted Dying Bill in parliament and the statistics
from Age UK, cited in the literature review, stating that the preference of the elderly is
for medicalised death, without knowledge of imminent death (Payne, Age UK: 2015).
The fact that ‘pain-free’ was a prompt chosen by thirty-two respondents clarifies that
this was more important for most than being ‘with God’. The six teachers who did not
choose the prompt ‘pain-free’ wrote either ‘minimal pain’, ‘quick’ or ‘in one’s sleep.’
Whilst the respondents’ past experiences possibly influenced their answers, the reply
from subject number one hundred (Table 29 below) reflects the importance of other
factors not considered. Whilst other respondents did not elucidate so fully, nonetheless,
they may have chosen similar prompts had they been available. More conclusive is the
possibility that the variance in the questionnaire answers detailed above, represents
the continued twenty-first century importance of choice (Walter 1990, especially ch.20
in Walter 2005: 175), which arguably is now shown to extend to the discussed
medicalisation of death. The quantitative research from questionnaires therefore
provides tentative qualitative data supporting other findings that there is a post-modern
‘revival of death. This defends the right of individuals to die as they wish (Àrnason and
Hafsteinsson (2003: 46), despite the outcome of recent parliamentary debates
suggesting assisted death is still a taboo subject.
Notwithstanding that the unpredictability of tragic or ‘bad deaths’ makes the availability
of such choice dubious, how and where death occurs is clearly important to individuals
experiencing a planned-for death. Subject number fifty paralleled a ‘good death’ with
‘going home,’ although it was unclear as to whether the respondent meant their own
home, or a celestial ‘home,’ since they also chose the prompt ‘at peace with God.’
Arguably, whilst it is uncertain how significantly questionnaire prompts influenced
respondents’ answers, nonetheless, a wide choice-list avoided asking ‘loaded
questions ...in such a way as to suggest to respondents that there is only one
acceptable answer’ (Cohen, Manion and Morrison 2007: 33). The corresponding data
176 NHS Choices 27. 12. 2012 [online] Available at
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/11November/Pages/What-is-the-Liverpool-Care-Pathway.aspx
(accessed 20.11.14)
140
from findings were therefore broad, and several respondents added their own
definitions of ‘good death’.
The main additions to listed prompts were dying ‘with loved ones’, introduced by
twelve respondents, and the respective additions ‘dying with dignity’, and ‘saying
goodbye’, introduced by three respondents for each category. Although only three
respondents highlighted ‘saying goodbye’ as important, it is anticipated that those
choosing ‘dying with loved ones’ assumed they might be also ‘saying goodbye’ to
them, making it equally likely that fifteen respondents chose this category by default.
It was therefore the highest incidence of choice for respondent-added prompts, thus
supporting data to the discussion of ‘bad’ deaths, where relatives are often denied
the chance to say goodbye. Some respondents chose to expand their answers more
fully. Six respondents, all female, included information revealing the importance of
being with, or near, loved ones whilst dying.
TABLE TWENTY-NINE: Additional phrases related to loved ones
Faith Age Additional Prompt of ‘with loved ones/family’
Christian 36-40 At home, in sleep, with family, pain free
Christian 42-50 Pain free, at home, in peace, loved ones
Christian 42-50 Pain free, with your family. At peace with yourself and God.
Preferably at home.
Christian 21-25 Pain free, at an old age, at home with loved ones.
Unstated 51-60 At home, minimal pain, having said ‘goodbye’ to loved ones.’
Atheist 51-60 Pain free; preferably in my sleep; opportunities to say
goodbye to my family/have my family nearby; in my home or
a nursing home/ hospice; with some control after the end if
mental faculties are ok; or with control by my children if I had
dementia (through power of attorney).
CHAPTER CONCLUSION
The results of this chapter serve to expand and support the research from the literature
review and the three other findings chapters in the thesis. It is not possible to confirm
141
whether another sampled area of the country would result in different findings as to
how teachers deal daily with death and loss. However, recent similar findings in other
areas of the country, outlined in the educational policy chapter, give cause to suggest
that notwithstanding exceptions in other non-metropolitan schools with similar
ethnically homogenous intakes, the sample is likely to be indicative of the general
situation of bereavement provision within other primary schools. As the data from
questionnaires reflect no particular surprises, the intention to use them interpretively to
support the data in other chapters is fulfilled.
The findings reveal that fifty-four per cent of teachers in the sample were bereaved as
children and eighty-three per cent had been bereaved as adults, making most teachers
familiar with grief at some point. Nevertheless, also revealed is that not all teachers in
the sample were confident speaking with children about bereavement. Only one
teacher suggested that being bereaved as a child helped them in any way to discuss
bereavement with children and only four teachers bereaved as adults said that
experience had helped them. Although familiarity might help prepare the bereaved
personally for the next loss, it seems that it does not necessarily help teachers know
what to say to bereaved children. Nonetheless, thirteen teachers took the time to
answer how they felt about speaking with bereaved children. Their comments comply
with the literature review, which indicates that teachers find this aspect of their role
hard, adopt a passive approach, and that knowing what to say can leave them ‘at a
loss’.
Despite ninety per cent of teachers having taught a bereaved child, a high proportion of
respondents had received no CPD training on how children grieve, or what would help
them manage. Only five teachers considered that training would not help them, and it is
unclear whether this was because they suspected that agreeing to training might leave
them wholly responsible for every bereaved child in the school. Fifteen teachers
thought training would help and the same number of teachers was unsure. Possibly,
with more information of what the training comprised, they might have answered
positively. Sixty-eight per cent of teachers confirmed that they knew of County
resources within their school, although thirty-nine per cent had never used them.
Teachers said they seldom referred to any resources unless an immediate need arose,
which supports the argument that teachers either have a passive approach to
discussing death and loss or that any spare time is used for raising academic
standards, as suggested in other findings.
142
Ways in which teachers can help children by sharing a suitable story have been
explored to support the chapter on the under-researched area of bibliotherapy. The
questionnaires looked to connect with that chapter’s findings by asking if teachers
generally used books to help bereaved children. Although the two most-used books
were anthropomorphic, sixty-six per cent of teachers had shared a book with a grieving
child, which suggests that carefully chosen books would be an inexpensive resource
teachers would be willing to use if they were trained to understand the bibliotherapeutic
process and had external support. Another significant finding is that none of the
sampled schools had a policy for death and loss education, and as such, there was no
agreed course of action or rationale for how teachers would approach discussions with
children or alert other staff of bereavements.
The educational policy findings in a later chapter show that the sampled schools are
not unusual, and it seems highly likely that without government education (or health)
policy raising the profile of bereavement, schools will not regard it as a priority. Insights
from chapter one suggest that the failure of all the schools in the sample to consider a
written policy necessary could well be an institutionalised example of ‘embarrassed
denial’ when speaking about death and mourning. Moreover, the findings of the
education policy chapter show that provision for emotional intelligence is outweighed in
primary schools by the significance accorded to achieving high academic results,
indeed they have become increasingly attainment-driven with the recent ‘secondary
ready’ government goals (DfE 2013: 3: 1.3).177 Furthermore, the chapter’s findings
support the premise that there is confusion in schools between policies for critical
incidents and those for daily death and loss education, with the former being a passive
but statutory requirement and the latter being optional. Also highlighted in the
education policy research are the recommendations from the ACT report to the Select
Committee for Health (Department of Health Select Committee 2004:6:135; ACT:
PC38A, July 2004: 26)178stating that schools should have a policy for dealing with
individual, bereaved children. Without an agreed policy, teachers are not informed of
bereavements and training can go unplanned.
177 DfE (2013) Primary Assessment and Accountability Under the New National Curriculum
[online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/298568/Primary_
assessment_and_accountability_under_the_new_curriculum_consultation_document.pdf
(accessed 24.2.15)
178 Available at http://www.parliament.the-stationery-
office.co.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhealth/454/45410.htm (accessed 30.8.14)
143
The policy written for my own school states as an aim that staff will be given
information and support and that they will attend training (see appendix). Forty-six per
cent of teachers in the sample thought someone should be responsible for death and
loss education in the school, compared to twenty-five per cent who thought otherwise.
The sixty per cent of the sample bereaved as children may have influenced that
opinion. On the other hand, the responsibility for any school role has to be considered
by a headteacher as a ‘reasonable’ part of teachers’ agreed duties, and without
sufficient training and support, it is questionable whether any member of staff should
undertake the role alone without counselling support. The termination of County
school-based counselling services has been cited as further proof that help for
bereaved children occurs only if the school particularly requests it (2015: email
appendix). The findings show that even when school-based counsellors were available
for schools in the area, few schools had one assigned to them.
Moreover, there is a lack of understanding as to whose role external bereavement
support is. Auman (Auman 2007, cited by Potts 2013: 11) exemplifies the
misunderstanding voiced by some respondents who by suggesting that the school
nurse is responsible further support the notion that a medicalisation of bereavement
has evolved (Potts 2013: 11). It might also be pointed out that reliance on the school
nurse disregards the fact that nurses do not visit schools daily. Respondents’ answers
point to a lack of bereavement training for teachers; a majority desire to obtain training;
a sense that teachers feel some inadequacy in talking with bereaved children and a
lack of known resources within and without the school to support them in this. Taken
together, the findings from the quantitative data makes an original and useful
contribution to discerning what methods teachers utilise, how they are trained, whether
school-based policies are written and how teachers feel about managing bereaved
children in their classrooms.
144
145
Chapter 6
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS FROM AN EVALUATION OF BIBLIOTHERAPY
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
A previous chapter discusses the evolved portrayal of death and loss in children’s
literature from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first, and suggests that whilst
reference to death in children’s books has shifted with changing times, there remains a
denial of certain deaths and awkwardness with discussing other specific losses. This
chapter builds on that research, exploring some of the history of bibliotherapy,
otherwise known as the use of books to help problem-solve, and how different
practitioners can use books to facilitate grief resolution. Comparisons between clinical
and developmental approaches and further differences between cognitive self-help
bibliotherapy and that which is fiction-based will be explored. Although research
suggests that British primary schools are not generally and recognisably using fiction
bibliotherapeutically, teachers that read stories with themes of death and loss could be
initiating the problem solving process.
The chapter considers whether primary school teachers, who are not psychotherapists
and who have negligible access to school counsellors, should implement the
foundations of bibliotherapy. By investigating the use of fairy tales for problem solving,
this chapter builds on theory initiated by Bettelheim(1976), and adds to the inter-
disciplinary fields of education, psychology and English, all of which are represented in
different parts of this thesis. The inclusion of bibliotherapy research is therefore
relevant for expanding the discussion and for contributing to an under-researched area
of educational practice in Britain. Peryon (1982) states that bibliotherapy in educational
settings became popular from the 1940s (Peryon 1982, cited by Afolayan 1992: 139).
More recently, Sullivan and Strang (2002) suggest that ‘interest is growing in the use of
bibliotherapy as a resource for professionals working with school-age children in the
classroom setting’ (Doll and Doll 1997, cited by Sullivan and Strang, 2002: 75). The
lack of evidence detailing if and how bibliotherapy is used in British primary schools,
however, contrasts with the statements above, suggesting that evidence of
bibliotherapy being used or having gained popularity, refers predominantly to schools
outside of Britain, or to some secondary schools.
Bibliotherapy is neither a universally known term nor a widely used practice in British
primary schools, and whilst research shows that in the U.S.A., bibliotherapy is used in
146
schools as a problem solving tool (Doll and Doll 1987; Sullivan and Strang 2002;
Parker 2005), the recognition of the potential benefit of bibliotherapy in British
classrooms is a more recent phenomenon (Johnson 2004: 293). Possible reasons for
growing interest could be: more troubled children in mainstream schools; the increasing
media influence of American culture, and possibly, growing cultural consciousness of
the effect on adults of unresolved childhood traumas. This research into the relevance
to British schools of using different bibliotherapeutic interventions to help bereaved
children, comprising either self-help, cognitive-therapy workbooks, or children’s fiction,
thus fills a gap in the field of knowledge.
History
Although bibliotherapy is a strategy not noticeably endorsed for use in British primary
schools, it nonetheless represents an historically ancient practice. There is evidence
that in Greek culture bibliotherapy is claimed to be as old as 300 BCE179 (Afolayan
1992: 137) where it is perceived as ‘nourishment of the soul’ (Cardenas 1980: 3, cited
by Afolayan 1992: 137). The word bibliotherapy emanates from the Greek biblion
meaning ‘book’, and therapeia meaning ‘to heal’ (Crothers 1916, cited by Afolayan
1992: 138). Scholars who have reviewed the history of bibliotherapy, unanimously
suggest that the actual term ‘bibliotherapy’ was first used by Crothers in 1916, to
describe how books could help patients understand their problems (Sullivan and Strang
2002: 75). Rush was one of the first Americans to suggest using books therapeutically,
(Weimerskersch 1964: 6) and John Galt in 1840 first wrote about reading as an
alternative intervention technique in hospitals180 (Weimerskersch 1964: 6, Afolayan
1992: 138).
Definition
Whilst bibliotherapy was used psychotherapeutically and effectively in American mental
hospitals, and to ‘heal’ suggests clinical intervention, for the purposes of this chapter
the phrase will be more generally used to suggest the ability to see problems from a
different perspective (Lenkowsky [1987] 2001: 123) and for gaining resolution. Later,
following the First and Second World Wars (1914-18; 1939-45), bibliotherapy as a
treatment for soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorders ‘received widespread
attention’ (Schechtman 2009: 22). Although there are many definitions of what
bibliotherapy is, it is commonly understood to be the use of reading books, either
individually, with another, or with a group, to promote psychological or emotional
179 Before Common Era. (see glossary)
180 Later available as a series of essays published 1846.
147
change through problem solving. Some definitions are:
the use of reading to produce affective change and to promote personality growth
and development. (Lenkowsky [1987] (2001): 123)
guided reading181 that helps individuals understand the self and environment,
learn from others, or find solutions to the problems. (Schrank and Engels 1981,
cited by Todahl, Smith, Barnes, and Pereira 1998: 98)
the practice of using books and stories as part of the treatment of emotionally and
mentally disturbed people. (Jones 2001: 15)182
‘a child-friendly, noninvasive method’ to help students achieve emotional
intelligence (Sullivan and Strang 2002: 77).
Although the primary concern of the study is with primary school bibliotherapy, it is
important to state that notwithstanding variance in definitions of what bibliotherapy is,
the strategy was initially used only for adults. Bibliotherapy has also been used
extensively for children in the U.S.A. and from the late 1960s this included bereaved
children (Jones 2001: 16).
The self-help tradition
Historically, reading books for self-improvement is said to have begun in the eighteenth
century with Abraham Lincoln (Phillips 1992: 5, cited by Effing 2009: 128) after which
bibliotherapy became known as a genre in the USA and was established with the
publishing of the book Self-Help (Smiles [1859] 2006, cited by Effing 2009: 129). Whilst
cognitive bibliotherapy offers the possibility of medical-free help, it nonetheless
provides insufficient intervention for everyone. Cognitive therapies are based on the
premise that behaviours are learned and can therefore be unlearned (Schechtman
2009: 23), and rely on a person’s personal motivation to change behaviour.
Consequently, some self-help books, including those for children, involve work sheets
and ‘tasks’. Their success in problem solving depends on an ability to read and
181 Since in primary schools teachers and teaching assistants ‘teach’ the process of guided
reading to children in a group situation, the term ‘shared reading’ might be more appropriate to
bibliotherapy in a primary school setting.
182 For this thesis, the assumption is made that the model of a bereaved child will be otherwise
mentally healthy.
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understand the work expected, and a willingness to complete assignments and
workbooks independently (Schechtman 2009: 25). Cognitive bibliotherapy as the sole
intervention could therefore be ineffective in children under seven years of age, and
inappropriate for use with primary school children struggling to write.
Clinical use
Clinical bibliotherapists are trained to suggest particular books for reading (Hynes
1988, cited by McArdle and Byrt 2001: 520) as an additional resource to client-therapist
psychotherapeutic sessions. These are most likely to be fiction books for the client to
read between therapy sessions before discussion with the therapist. Whilst
psychotherapeutic, bibliotherapeutic intervention can be either a cognitive workbook or
a story, fiction is most often suggested as a way to help patients with ‘emotional
catharsis, active problem solving and personal insight’ (Lanza 1996, cited by McArdle
and Byrt 2001: 520). Carlson and Arthur support this premise noting that the
‘therapeutic use of story is grounded in psychoanalytic theory’ (Carlson and Arthur
1999: 216), a strand already explored above.
Schlenther asserts that up until the mid-1970s, bibliotherapy was approved for the
offices of trained therapists only (Schlenther 1999: 30). Having discussed some of the
aspects of clinical, therapist-led bibliotherapy, he suggests that within the field there are
two main approaches used: Clinical Bibliotherapy, which is employed by a qualified
counsellor, therapist or psychologist (Cook et al 2006: 92); and Developmental
Bibliotherapy which can be utilised by an adult untrained in psychotherapy.
Nonetheless, Schlenther notes that within the field of bibliotherapy, division between
clinical and developmental strands is complex, since a teacher will easily resolve some
outwardly difficult problems, whilst some deceptively simple problems will require
therapeutic intervention from a psychologist (Schlenther 1999: 30). However, as
proportionally more children in a mainstream primary school will be mentally healthy
than not, the need for only clinical, therapist-led bibliotherapy at school is minimal.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIBLIOTHERAPY IN SCHOOLS
Pardeck endorsed the use of bibliotherapy as not only a clinical tool for professional
practice but also for lay-workers (Heath et al 2005: 564). Lucas and Soares extend this
premise, stating that developmental bibliotherapy can be successfully implemented by
teachers in schools (Lucas and Soares 2013: 142). Arguably, the familiar classroom
setting and the potentially powerful bond between teacher and child can make it the
most favourable place for bibliotherapy to occur (Lucas and Soares 2013: 145).
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However, there is disagreement as to how proficient teachers would be. Antila asserts
that the main qualifications for a facilitator are ‘a concern for children and a desire to
explore children’s literature’ (Antila 2009: 18), while Cook et al (2006: 92) suggest that
teachers unused to discussing death could struggle with the responses of bereaved
children. Lucas and Soares (2013: 141) emphasise that whilst developmental
bibliotherapy can be successfully implemented in schools at all age levels, (Lucas and
Soares 2013: 142) it should be ‘guided by trained psychologists’ (Lucas and Soares
2013: 142).
Although not at all widespread in British schools, developmental bibliotherapy is
commonly implemented in the USA by teachers, or other non-clinical adults ‘to facilitate
normal development and self-actualization with an essentially healthy population’
(Afolayan 1992: 139; Kramer and Smith 1998; Rubin 1978, cited by Pehrsson 2005: 3,
McCulliss 2012, cited by Lucas and Soares 2013: 141). Teachers are concerned with
‘everyday situations that inevitably occur as part of the complex social and emotional
classroom environment’ (Maich and Kean 2004: 4) and it is therefore more likely that
teachers use bibliotherapeutic strategies and shared-reading without presuming any
resemblance to a therapeutic process they are unqualified for.
Reading popular stories, such as The Huge Bag of Worries (Ironside and Rodgers
1996) can provide teachers with an instant, comfortable way of dealing with children’s
upsets. Whilst there is a need for more recent case studies citing the effectiveness (or
otherwise) of using either clinical or developmental bibliotherapy for specific problems,
(Heath et al 2005: 565) bibliotherapy practitioners have reported the effectiveness of
sharing books in situations similar to those mentioned already. Although the
effectiveness of talking therapies is hard to prove, and large-scale trials are not as
common as those for drug trials or cognitive-therapy, Heath et al discussing
developmental bibliotherapy, state
…studies indicate that bibliotherapy is helpful when working with children and
families dealing with loss or transition and that this includes divorce (Brennan
1990) death, parental unemployment or marital separation (Morris-Vann 1983,
cited by Heath et al 2005: 564).
Whilst the merits of bibliotherapy are clearly not restricted to bereaved children, the
research referred to shows that a significant number of children each year are
bereaved through death and loss; many will retain unresolved issues. The use of
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bibliotherapeutic literature for children experiencing common problems including loss of
friendship; feelings of anger and fear; moving house, divorce and the effects of new
family dynamics, has been positively acknowledged by Pardeck as a technique
possible for teachers and parents to use (Pardeck 1989, 1990a, 1991, 1996, 1998;
Pardeck and Pardeck 1993, 1997 and 1998, cited by Heath et al 2005: 564) and
inevitably this would be developmental bibliotherapy.
Six goals
Whilst a clinical intervention with a trained therapist is appropriate (and available) to
some, reading certain books is generally agreed to potentially help readers solve
personal problems (Pardeck 1993; Riecken and Miller 1990; Jones 2001; Milton 2004).
The six goals of bibliotherapy proposed by Pardeck and Pardeck (1995: 110) initially
related to clinical bibliotherapy, but they apply whichever method of achieving them is
undertaken. They suggest:
1. To provide information.
2. To provide insight into a specific experience or situation.
3. To provide alternative solutions to the problem.
4. To stimulate a discussion of what the actual problem is.
5. To communicate new values and attitudes with regard to the problem.
6. To help students understand that they are not the only one who has
experienced this problem.
(Pardeck and Pardeck 1995: 110, cited by Cook et al 2006: 92)
Furthermore, as the goals are clearly linked to problem solving through discussion and
insight, they are relevant for managing many common, everyday concerns that
transpire in classrooms. It is, however, too simplistic to present the goals to teachers
without clarifying the process used to integrate them into a school day. There is
negligible empirical research on how cognitive-bibliotherapy helps children (Essau and
Ollendick 2012: 2, citing Watkins and Clum 2008) and most of the literature exploring
the use of bibliotherapy with children cites affective bibliotherapy (Gladding 2005, cited
by Schechtman 2009: 26). There is evidence, however, that learning from stories
shared with an adult allows children to reflect on how book characters problem solve
(Herbert and Kent 2000, cited by Cook et al 2006: 93). By reading a book reflecting a
problem similar to theirs, a child could gain insight, experience catharsis and develop
strategies to help them manage better (Milton 2004: 60). Furthermore, stories
represent periods of relaxation and are synonymous with the routines of bedtime (Gadd
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2007: 3) and sharing time with parents. Also part of whole-class story times, they are
more likely to ease tension in troubled children than a workbook, and Mallon asserts
that whatever a child’s age ‘there are books that enable them either to prepare for or
cope with distressing personal life events’ (Mallon 2008: 21).
Many children prepare for more challenging troubles by discussing lesser fears. Fear of
the dark, a common innate childhood fear 183 researched by Mikulas (Mikulus 1985,
cited by Lenkowsky [1987] 2001: 128) has provoked empathetic classic texts such as
The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark184 (Tomlinson and Howard: 2000), What’s That
Noise?185 (Simon and Melling: 1996) and Can’t You Sleep Little Bear?186 (Waddell and
Firth: 2013). All the titles address fear through the focalising characters in the stories,
which when read with children, can stimulate conversations about additional fears.
Teachers as quasi-therapists
Arguably, there is a danger in expecting teachers to undertake developmental
bibliotherapy without support or training. However, since there is sometimes a delay in
obtaining help from outside agencies, teachers can be unavoidably required to take on
the role of a quasi-therapist187 with only distance-support from educational
psychologists. Evans (1971) clarifies that ‘the teacher’s role is not as therapist’ (Evans
1971, cited by Jones 2001: 20) however, education has clearly become ‘more
interdisciplinary’ (Mackey and McQueen 1998, cited by Maich and Kean 2004: 3) with
the emphasis on school inclusion for pupils with behavioural needs (Wood 1998, cited
by Maich and Kean 2004: 3). Consequently, teachers have been required to redefine
their professional boundaries (Wood 1998, cited by Maich and Kean 2004: 3) and for
this, new inexpensive interventions are needed.
It could be argued therefore that teachers untrained in bibliotherapy, already implement
part of the process in some way through necessity. The process is ultimately reliant on
dialogue and reflection (Lucas and Soares 2013: 139) with the intention not to provide
a cure, as with clinically used cognitive bibliotherapy, but to use the curriculum to
prepare children for life and to ‘enlighten and provide insight’ (Caldin 2009, cited by
Lucas and Soares 2013: 139). It is therefore a practice not beyond the remit of many
183 Bowlby stated that fear of dangers encouraged an infant to seek an attachment figure.
184 Written by Jill Tomlinson, illustrated by Paul Howard.
185 Written by Michelle Edwards and Phyllis Root.
186 Written by Martin Waddell and Barbara firth
187 From 2009-10, I taught a class in which two children had severe emotional and social
problems, with behaviour well beyond anything that my training had covered. I wrote a daily log
to the educational psychologist as a support system to help me manage their behaviour.
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primary school teachers who are dealing daily with the side-effects of children’s
unresolved grief. Whilst not suggesting that teachers are therapists, my argument is
that teachers could begin the process of developmental bibliotherapy, particularly as
supported facilitators, for children assessed as sufficiently mentally adjusted to manage
without psychotherapeutic intervention.
The limits of teacher intervention
Whilst reading a book plays a significant role in developmental bibliotherapy, Lucas
and Soares (2013) make the important distinction that bibliotherapy ‘is not simply a
reading activity’ (Lucas and Soares 2013: 139), which contrasts with Sullivan and
Strang’s assertion that a reason for incorporating bibliotherapy into the curriculum is to
strengthen reading skills (Sullivan and Strang 2002: 77). Sullivan and Strang are
possibly advocating the use of reading as a context already familiar to children in
classrooms, but the complex process of developmental bibliotherapy requires a
facilitator who can judge when a child’s problem is beyond their scope without feeling
professionally deficient.
As noted already, clinical bibliotherapy requiring therapeutic methods, is for children
‘with serious emotional problems’ (Abdullah 2002: 1) and Cook (2006) notes this would
occur in a structured setting (Cook et al 2006, cited by Foss 2009: 3). However, the use
of alternative therapies such as one-to-one art therapy already occurs in some schools
using an external practitioner. The document Guidelines for the Provision of
Counselling, Psychotherapy and Play Therapy in Southern Counties 188[sic] Schools
(Ryan 2010) states that a ‘willingness to use creative arts therapeutically’ (Ryan 2010:
17) is deemed an essential requisite of a school counsellor/play therapist.
Consequently, whilst some teachers regularly share stories with overtly unhappy
children as a short-term measure, others might not only correctly assume that they are
not capable of managing the deeper emotions emerging from a session with a
severely-troubled child, but think the counsellors should be solely responsible. My
findings suggest that some teachers believe this to be so. Hence, even with training, it
would be likely that a primary school teacher would agree with Lucas and Soares
(2013) that there is a need for collaboration with the educational psychologist allocated
to a school (Lucas and Soares 2013: 142), further supporting the premise that
developmental bibliotherapy rather than clinical is the only strand appropriate for
teachers to employ.
188 Not the true name, county name removed.
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Moreover, which children should experience developmental bibliotherapy in schools is
as relevant as who is equipped to facilitate it, and depends largely on the accuracy of
initial judgements. Accordingly, the decision as to whether there is a need for therapist
intervention is dependent on which professional makes the decision: doctor, counsellor
or teacher (Lindeman and Kling 1968: 36). Lindeman and Kling assert that this is partly
dependent on whether the practice of bibliotherapy is perceived as treating the
mentally ill, the maladjusted or ‘as a natural part of classroom curriculum used in
meeting the developmental needs of children’ (Lindeman and Kling 1968: 36). Although
Lindeman and Kling are differentiating between clinical and developmental
bibliotherapy, whether or not any potential bibliotherapist requires training in
psychotherapy or is able, with training, to facilitate some of the bibliotherapeutic
process is clearly debatable. Afolayan (1992) suggests that the qualities of the
facilitator help determine its success and that the traits of patience, self-confidence,
empathy and emotional stability are essential (Afolayan 1992: 144, citing Edwards and
Simpson 1986).
Interventions within the competence of teachers
Despite possible misgivings, the extent of available books coupled with teachers’
willingness to help troubled children make school-based developmental bibliotherapy a
school practice worth exploring. Consequently, guidelines are needed for those
teachers who wish to begin the process themselves with suitable support, even if they
then need to assign the whole case to an educational psychologist or counsellor.
Despite their origin in clinical bibliotherapy, there is value in discussing the four areas
relevant to the administering of the bibliotherapeutic process from which it is hoped that
catharsis and insight will occur (Afolayan 1992: 140). The stages for the process are
succinctly summarised by Pardeck and Pardeck (Pardeck and Pardeck 1993, cited by
Lucas and Soares 2013: 143) as:
TABLE THIRTY: Stages in the bibliotherapy process
Identification of the problem, behaviour
Selection of appropriate literature
Presentation of the stories
Follow-up with reading and discussion
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These four bibliotherapeutic stages are useful, although they are extended by Aiex
(Aiex 1993, cited by Cook et al 2006: 94) and have been recently reviewed and
updated by Lucas and Soares (2013: 143) who transpose the word ‘implementation’ for
‘presentation’. By examining each part of the process, it can be seen how adequately
trained and supported teachers could implement developmental bibliotherapy in
primary schools. I will use Pardeck’s four stages to discuss the process, although the
obvious over-lap between them suggests that separate sections are unnecessary.
Stage One: Identification
As discussed above, troubled children that are grieving are often unable to manage
their feelings alone and can find it difficult to talk to family. Teachers with no training in
death and loss education face a more problematic situation than those who realise the
link between a child’s behaviour and bereavement. The problem behaviour is
sometimes easier to understand, and even defuse, once a cause is suspected189. To
initiate developmental bibliotherapy, the teacher needs to identify the root of the child’s
problem so that they can assess their ability to deal with it and be able to offer a
suitable selection of stories for shared reading. The books chosen must therefore be
credible and relate directly to the child’s ‘target behaviour’ (Cook et al 2006: 93), which
in a bereaved child might include uncontrollable anger towards others, temper
tantrums, excessive weeping, social withdrawal and clinginess to adults. If the teacher
has successfully identified the root of the problem, the principle of developmental
bibliotherapy is that the child empathises with a character experiencing similar
problems to themselves, and identifies with the ‘needs, wishes and frustrations of that
character’ (Carlson and Arthur 1999: 216). From this, resolution is ultimately possible.
Clearly, the age of the child and their reading-age affects the books offered, alongside
whether they are text-free, picture books, or chapter books. Lucas and Soares expand
this theory and suggest that for children aged three to six years, books addressing
‘daily life-problems’ might be most interesting. They suggest that for children of seven,
adventures or fairy tales with less text might help (Lucas and Soares 2013: 143) with
problem solving whilst older children often prefer more elaborate fairy tales comprising
‘images and text with simple sentences’ (Rosario 2004: 143, cited by Lucas and
Soares 2013: 143). As the younger children in a primary school will be four years old,
picture books are an important resource.
189 Personal classroom experience supports this theory.
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Accordingly, Schlenther (1999) notes that for children not yet reading, pictures in books
are essential to their understanding (Schlenther 1999: 33). To support this premise the
research undertaken by Hunt, previously a primary school teacher, cites the case of a
child of three selecting the book The Snowman (Briggs [1978] 2013 ) following her
mother’s death. The child selected the story herself and although unable to read, the
pictures clearly held meaning for her. She became fixated on the last page, and in an
effort to come to terms with what ‘being dead’ means, she repeatedly asked ‘Is he
dead?’ (Hunt 2006: 41). Reading the book independently would not have allowed the
discussion that in itself demonstrated the child’s dubious understanding, or need to
have the facts repeated. In contrast to the therapeutic model, where a facilitator selects
books for the child to choose from, Hunt asserts that children need freedom to select
stories themselves, and can do so from ‘a kind of innate wisdom’ (Hunt 2004, cited by
Hunt 2006: 41). Hunt continues that adults should respect this ability (ibid.). The books
presented should therefore cover a wide range of formats.
Stage Two: Selection
The teacher’s ability to select book titles to choose from, appropriate to a child’s needs,
is obviously crucial to success, but another consideration is story endings that promise
the impossible. These could do more harm than good, such as the book Up in Heaven
(Chichester Clark 2013) which should be used cautiously, for its promise to the
focalising character of a new dog to replace the dead one. To simplify the way that
teachers could approach book selection I refer to Carlson (2001), who itemises the
questions teachers could ask of a book:
TABLE THIRTY-ONE: Questions for teachers to ask of a book
Is the story simple, clear, brief, non-repetitious, and believable?
Is it at an appropriate reading level and developmental level?
Does the story fit with relevant feelings, needs, interests, and goals?
Does it demonstrate cultural diversity, gender inclusivity, and sensitivity to aggression?
Does it demonstrate cultural diversity, gender inclusivity, and sensitivity to aggression?
(Carlson 2001); (Cartledge and Kiarie 2001, cited by Maich and Kean 2004: 7)
Apart from the third and the final questions, which are clearly bibliotherapeutic in
character, the questions resemble those most teachers would consider before
suggesting a book for a child to read. Consequently, most of the developmental
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bibliotherapy process is not entirely alien to primary school teachers. A study by Cohen
(1994) reveals that people benefited most from stories in which they could identify with
the book characters (Cohen 1994, cited by McLeod 2006: 80). This is validated by
Pardeck (1990b: 1043, cited by Carlson and Arthur 1999: 216) and Cook et al (2006)
who assert that underlying the success of bibliotherapy is the ability of the child to
identify with literary characters similar to themselves (Cook et al 2006: 93). This follows
earlier work from Bettelheim(1976) who suggests that it is more important for a child to
consider ‘Who do I want to be like?’ than ‘Do I want to be good?’ (Bettelheim 1976: 10,
cited by Schechtman 2009: 28), making it vital that the child is drawn to the characters
whose problems are resolved within the books offered. Furthermore, Lucas and Soares
emphasise, that successful bibliotherapy is dependent not only on book selection by a
competent facilitator, but on encouraging children to realise that there is more than one
solution to a problem (Lucas and Soares 2013: 142).
This is more relevant to the stage of follow-up discussions but has a bearing on the
books initially selected, as some books lend themselves better to the consideration of
alternative endings than others. Identifying with a focalising character that has come to
terms with grief, mourned and moved on would be a very powerful experience for a
bereaved child. While there have been few recent children’s fiction books detailing
feelings in the first year after bereavement, book titles such as Michael Rosen’s Sad
Book (Rosen and Blake 2004), A Place in My Heart (Aubrey and Barton 2007) and
Milly’s Bug-Nut (Janney and Bailey 2002) all detail the experience of mourning. Similar
books are particularly useful for children whose families avoid discussing the deceased
and who practise ‘embarrassed denial’. Where children are excluded from ‘difficult’
conversations, being offered a book to read that echoes their own dilemma can be a
lifeline. Selecting books that echo the child’s problems relies upon the accurate
matching of book to child (Maich and Kean 2004: 3), a point emphasised by Crago who
stresses that ‘bibliotherapy rests on the possibility of such matching’ (Crago 2005:
182).
Drawing on research by Nell (1998)190, Crago maintains that ‘the optimal conditions for
‘bibliotherapy would be when a reader... already capable of ludic reading... encounters
a text... which matches his or her developmental stage or recurrent inner themes’ (Nell
1998, cited by Crago 2005: 185). From this, resolution can occur and bibliotherapy is
190 Nell (1998) investigated ‘ludic reading’ ‘where readers willingly become oblivious to the world
around them...The reader ‘merges’ with the characters and events of the work’ (Crago 2005:
185).
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seen to have been a valuable intervention or additional support to other measures.
However, a contrasting view proposed by Schlenther is that children do not necessarily
want to read about their own problems, but will be content to read about focalising
characters grappling with different problems (Schlenther 1999: 34) with satisfactory
conclusions. Children beginning to manage their grief could feel overwhelmed from
reading a ‘sad’ book making it vital to offer a wide selection and follow the child’s
decision. Understanding the process of problem-solving might be the most important
achievement and an important distinction when some losses are rarer to read about
than others.
Stage Three: Presentation
How books are presented to the child requires skill from the facilitator to help the child
choose from books available to them (Mitchell-Kamalie 2002, cited by Lucas and
Soares 2013: 143); a situation a child should be familiar with in class from choosing
books for individual reading with a teacher. However, whilst Lucas and Soares state
that it is important for a facilitator to introduce the story theme by saying ‘this story is all
about…’ (Lucas and Soares 2013: 143), arguably this could be perceived as overtly
didactic. It might take time for children to acknowledge the similarity of their own life, or
problem, to the story plot. Additionally, the location for presenting books for
bibliotherapy is as important as the books selected. Presenting books in a noisy
classroom with interruptions from other staff, other children, or school incidents could
make the experience stressful. Quiet-reading time, or whole-class independent activity
time, would encourage success, as already suggested for guided-reading.
Stage Four: Follow-Up
Follow-up is unavoidably intertwined with the other three stages, causing repetition in
the guidance. It is here, therefore, that the distinction becomes vital between reading a
book, and developmental bibliotherapy. In support of this clarification, Pardeck and
Pardeck assert that without the success of the previous stages and without successful
resolution from the final stage, the follow-up process is merely reading (Pardeck and
Pardeck 1993, cited by Berns 2004: 325) and as such is not bibliotherapeutic. The
significance of this distinction relates to both clinical and developmental bibliotherapy,
and notwithstanding the consequence of book choice and session location, Lucas and
Soares stress the importance in follow-up of paying attention to children’s comments
(Lucas and Soares 2013: 143). There is also a requirement for the facilitator to avoid
sermonising or asking sets of questions that collect data, and for constructing an
argument from which solutions can be found (Lucas and Soares 2013: 143). Questions
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aiming to help a child suggest solutions (Lucas and Soares 2013: 144), and directed to
the child’s feelings (Davis 1992, cited by Lucas and Soares 2013: 143) could be: ‘What
could happen if…’ ‘What would you do if…’? (Rosàrio 2004, cited by Lucas and Soares
2013: 143).
Guided reading
A possible solution to the time needed for individual reading sessions could be for a
teacher to incorporate the time into a curriculum guided-read, with the proviso that a
competent teaching assistant was available to supervise the remainder of the class in
the teacher’s presence, for primarily independent activities. This is a normal use of
resources in primary classrooms and within the new 2014 Primary Curriculum,191
guided-reading is already suggested as a very useful tool for flexible teaching and for
children to learn from one another, if it is well planned and with ‘carefully-chosen texts’
(DfE 2013: 2). Feasibility would depend partly on whether a small group of children
shared similar problems. A dilemma could be the book choice relevant to a diverse
group. Crago reinforces this concern by asserting that selecting a book ‘is a question of
a very ‘private’ transaction’ (Crago 2005: 182) between child and bibliotherapist.
However, although the chosen book and approach that suits one child clearly might not
suit another, group sessions may have the potential to encourage better self-
awareness in a child, and peer support can help them perceive a situation differently
(Berns 2003: 331; Lucas and Soares 2013: 142).
At the same time, a reading group disrupted by the actions of a very troubled child can
prevent progress being made by other children. My experience of guided-reading is
that some children are shy to speak in a group, and those children recently bereaved
might be embarrassed by group sessions, especially if peers have since treated them
differently. In support of these misgivings, Berns elucidates some concern over group-
work being perceived as a ‘cure-all’ (Berns 2003: 332). Also relevant would be whether
it was easier for the teacher to undertake bibliotherapy than to manage the behaviour
resulting from children’s unsolved problems. With permanent counsellors rare on
primary school staff, a group-read is at least a temporary solution to time-allocation
dilemmas.
191 In the New Primary curriculum for 2014, as The Role of Guided Reading (2013) [online]
Available at
http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/oxed/primary/literacy/guidedreading_report.pdf?re
gion=uk (accessed 29.5.14)
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Classroom discussions after shared reading or during guided-reading have
developmental potential. Research by Riecken and Miller (1990) suggests that
teachers ‘can easily set and adjust the pace of the story-reading session to allow for
prolonged discussion of the problematic issues embedded in the narrative’ (Riecken
and Miller 1990: 63). Successful follow-up seems to rely on several factors: the chosen
book should be interesting, but not scholastically over-challenging, and as Crago
maintains, the book needs to create a sufficient parallel to the child’s condition for them
to be moved to ‘talk about what has previously been inchoate’ (Crago 2005: 187). This
can be better accomplished by using a familiar story as the plot is already understood.
Jones suggests that an effective story is one that can be read and re-read, becoming a
continuing resource for any bereaved child (Jones 2001, cited by Berns 2004: 333).
Books with familiar stories employing losses and resolution, suggests the usefulness of
fairy tales as a genre for problem-solving, and it is to fairy tales for developmental
bibliotherapy that I now turn.
Using fairy tales
The enduring popularity of fairy tales for adults and children is a much-researched
subject (Tatar 2009; Teverson 2013; Zipes[2012] 2013) that has been explored in
relation to both its conscious and unconscious impact on readers. Known to many pre-
school children, fairy tales remain classic books within British culture, despite those
best known having been translated from past historical times and non-British cultures.
Berne (1975) suggests that any culture includes an abundant store of narratives
including films and fairy tales, from which self-narratives can transpire (Berne 1975,
cited by McLeod 2006: 45). Although Teverson asserts that fairy tales can only be
understood in the cultural context in which they were written and received (Teverson
2013: 124), conversely, the scenarios of loss within fairy tales have the potential to
reach troubled children of any culture. In contrast to Teverson (2013), Riecken and
Miller (1990) assert that the wide range of problems and problem settings expose
children to the reality that there are many alternatives to solving problems (Riecken and
Miller 1990: 62).
A literature of grief and problem-solving
It could therefore be argued that complete cultural understanding is less important than
the potential for problem-solving. Children who are lost or unwanted, or who feel
different and isolated from peers, or are living in crowded conditions are all scenarios
addressed in fairy tales at the time they were written, and easily resonate with the
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experiences of some twenty-first century children (Riecken and Miller 1990: 63). Fairy
tales show children that there are ‘difficult and painful growing up experiences which
cannot be avoided’ (Bettelheim 1976: 215). Bettelheim192 equates the ‘agonizing
problems’ of parental death in fairy stories with the real-life event or fear of it for
children (Bettelheim 1976: 8) and Johnson, who extends the discussion to endorse the
usefulness of fairy tales, asserts that some fairy tales are the first literature of grief for
children (Johnson 2004: 295). Accordingly, Tatar asserts that fairy tales help children
‘navigate and manage what lies ahead’ (Tatar 2009: 89) through ‘broadening their
understanding of the human condition’ (Tatar 2009: 89); a measure that Tatar
concludes is important in a culture that has made dying a private, medical fact of life
from which children are spared (Tatar 2009: 102). Helping children, rather than
shielding them, is a strategy supported by Heath et al (2005), echoing Rando’s
assertion above that misfortune can be healthy.
Heath et al maintain that it is through conflict that we become dissatisfied with our lives
and encouraged to find alternative solutions (Heath et al 2005: 210). Moreover, Tatar
validates that ‘stories for children would lose their power very quickly if there were
nothing but sparkle and shine’ (Tatar 2009: 81). Themes of death and loss prevail in
fairy tales, and as their therapeutic value is largely missing from mainstream British
culture (McLeod 2006: 59), their inclusion here is relevant for school-based
developmental bibliotherapy, not least for the accessibility of the tales as a resource to
use with bereaved children. Whilst it could be argued that only a skilled counsellor
should be attempting to discuss themes of death and loss, whatever the book, teachers
mostly have to manage immediate situations, for which there is no planned
response193. Furthermore, notwithstanding a cautionary note that adult interpretation of
the tales must be carefully undertaken, stories demonstrating that other bereaved
children have solved their own problems are a valuable and positive bibliotherapeutic
resource.
Heath et al stress that bibliotherapeutic books should be chosen for what characters
can do to solve problems, rather than for what characters cannot accomplish (Heath et
al 2005: 569) and that the character should be a good role-model for problem-solving
skills (ibid.). If read with a facilitator, who asks questions similar to those outlined
above, a child could appreciate that not only can hardships be overcome, but that the
192 Although Bettelheim’s work is not current, it is nonetheless, a relevant and inspiring work that
has influenced more modern writing and for that reason is included in this thesis.
193 The lack of school-based policy is discussed in the chapter on educational policy findings.
161
character’s actions enabled a successful outcome. As already discussed in the
literature review, children beginning to leave behind the ‘magical thinking’ stage, during
Year 2 of primary school, improve their ability to understand death as irrevocable and
irreversible. Tatar supports this view and comments that it is ‘precisely through fairy
tales and fantasy that children learn to move beyond magical thinking194’(Tatar 2009:
140), making their bibliotherapeutic potential partly founded in theory.
Place in the curriculum
As fairy tales already form part of the curriculum in mainstream schools, the problems
of time-management for developmental, bibliotherapeutic, cyclical sessions are partly
addressed. The prescribed lessons for Key Stage One and lower Key Stage Two195
(D.f E. 2013: 25) encompass fairy tales, and their problem-solving propensity therefore
utilises a genre currently endorsed in two areas of the National Curriculum: Speaking
and Listening and Reading.
The pre-2014 National Curriculum programmes of study for English Literature (EN1
Speaking and Listening; 2d) which will still apply to pupils in years two and six196
suggest the need for pupils to ‘listen to the reactions of others’ (2000: 6, 2d) ‘take
different views into account’ (2000: 6, 3c), ‘extend their ideas in the light of discussion’
(2000: 6, 3d) and plan for the sharing of ‘ideas and experiences’ (2000: 7, 10b). As
teachers are trained to discuss texts with classes and to model listening to opinions,
children are already learning the questioning skills needed for the start of the
bibliotherapeutic process.
The present National Curriculum for Reading states that children should be taught to:
‘identify and describe characters, events and settings in fiction’ (DfE 2000: 6, 3b) and to
read ‘retellings of traditional folk and fairy stories’ (DfE 2000: 10, 6c). In Key Stage 2,
children are specifically taught to ‘qualify or justify what they think after listening to
others’ questions or accounts’ (DfE 2000: 16, 3c) while ‘looking for meaning beyond the
literal’ (DfE 2000: 19, 2c). Stories explored can include: modern fiction, long-
established fiction, and traditional tales (DfE 2000: 21, 8a,b, f) such as Rumpelstiltskin.
From September 2014, the statutory requirements for reading for Year One children
194 ‘Five to eight year olds are in the stage of magical thinking, believing that wishing can make
something happen’ (Mallon 2008: 31)
195 Years three and four, ages seven to nine.
196 The present statutory guidelines apply due to the National Attainment Tests undertaken by
children in those year groups but in 2016, all children will be taught the new Programmes of
Study. [online] Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum
(accessed 21.5.14)
162
(ages five to six) stipulate that children should ‘be encouraged to link what they read or
hear to their own experiences’ (DfE 2013: 11) ‘becoming very familiar with key stories,
fairy stories and traditional tales’ (DfE 2013: 11) and to ‘participate in discussion about
what is read to them, taking turns and listening to what others say’ (DfE 2013: 11). All
of the above requirements reflect suggested bibliotherapeutic elements.
Inevitably, the need to avoid text repetition within long-term curriculum planning
requires some didacticism from teachers in choice of text, meaning that the child’s own
problems might not be met via the curriculum, and would be better covered by another
book. For those children, one-to-one help with their own choice of text could be more
beneficial and Bettelheim notes that children are able to unconsciously select the fairy
story that best relates to their life situation (Bettelheim 1976, cited by McLeod 2006:
45). Both Berne (1975) and Bettelheim(1976) suggest that story messages heard by
the very young can continue their influence on children when adults, and that without
intervention, they will continue to identify with those same characters and world-views
(Berne 1975; Bettelheim 1976, cited by McLeod 2006: 45). Obviously, some fairy tale
experiences will have less meaning for twenty-first century children, but being
unwanted and malnourished; or physically abused and frightened; or distressed from
an adult protector turned perpetrator, remain experiences some children suffer.
In such cases, the grief of the situation is tangled with the beneficial effects of losing
the abusive relationship (Ribbens McCarthy 2005: 34, cited by Penny 2007: 21). Fairy
tales in which children suffer at the hands of their parent but achieve positive outcome,
197 198 such as Hansel and Gretel 199 (Grimm 1812), Snow White 200 (Grimm 1812) and
Cinderella (Perrault 1697; Grimm 1812201), could be illuminating and helpful. Echoing
Berne (1975) and Bettelheim (1976), children who are silent sufferers might particularly
find that a fairy tale focalising character is one with whom they can identify and from
whom they can achieve insight into their own problems. Conversely, although children
of divorced parents might find it difficult to accept the gender-stereotypical ‘happy ever
after’ conclusion of most ‘prince meets princess’ romances, the outcome could still offer
hope.
197 A positive outcome is not necessarily a happy ending, but one seeming reasonable to the
child.
198 The endings vary in these tales depending on the author.
199 The Grimm’s ending has the witch burned alive, the father sees his errors and the step-
mother has died.
200 The Grimm’s ending is that the queen dances to her death in red-hot slippers.
201 The Grimm’s version has the Stepsisters’ eyes pecked out.
163
There is, however, a danger to successful insight if a child cannot recognise that the
‘as if by magic’ world of fairy tales contains not only resolution but also false promises.
Although a young child still in the magical-thinking stage might only partly believe that
woodcutters can retrieve dead people from inside a wolf, insecure disbelief of this sort
is dangerous. Related to Berne and Bettelheim above, an important safeguard to
eradicate any occurring misconceptions from using fairy tales for bibliotherapy, is that
the child reads with the adult, rather than being read to in a whole-class story-time slot.
The value of fantastic stories
Bettelheim supports this view, stating that ‘ideally the telling of a fairy story should be
an interpersonal event into which an adult and child enter as equal partners, as can
never be the case when a story is read to a child’ (Bettelheim 1976: 152). This is
particularly important if reading to children from another religious culture with a different
view of death, or if reading to urban children who have never seen a wolf or even any
woods. While McIntyre (1999) and Carlson et al (2001) stress the need for realistic and
feasible plots and outcomes for a book to be worthwhile bibliotherapeutically (McIntyre
1999, cited by Heath et al 2005: 569; Carlson 2001, Cartledge and Kiarie 2001, cited
by Maich and Kean 2004: 7) the very fact that the stories are fantastic and therefore
somewhat unrealistic, provides children with enough clues to realise that the magic of
the tales indicates expected fabrication. A contrasting view is that escapism from
actuality benefits problem-solving. The distance created through the symbolism in the
fairy tale plots and the remoteness of the reality of settings and characters dissociates
them enough from reality to promote problem- solving from the safety of imagination.
The Me and the Not Me
McArdle and Byrt (2001) suggest that fairy tales function in the same way as
therapeutic storytelling (Hinds 1997, cited by McArdle and Byrt 2001: 520) by
encouraging the safe expression of feelings (McArdle and Byrt 2001: 520) and allowing
coping mechanisms to emerge. The tales can provide answers ‘to questions of which
we are unaware because they perturb us only in our unconscious’ (Bettelheim 1976:
218). Whilst much has been written about the psychoanalytical approach to
understanding fairy tales (Bettelheim 1976; Kuhn 2013; Schanoes 2014) if the
experience of sharing surfacing worries is outside of the teacher’s remit, it would
obviously require therapeutic intervention; however, fairy tales are valuable for most
children. Those who have been provided with metaphors for life experiences, and
those who were previously unable to verbalise their thoughts and feelings
164
appropriately, can learn new ways to do so (Pardeck and Pardeck 1993, cited by Cook
2006: 92).
This echoes the relationship between children’s literature and Winnicott’s work
discussed earlier, in which the ‘me, and the not me’ exist in the transitional spaces
between the inner and outer worlds and the spheres of reality and unreality (Kuhn
2013: 15). The value of this theory is that a child can identify the presented problems
as similar to their own but occurring somewhere else, making worries more
manageable. The stories contain ‘universal truths about love, hate, grief and joy and
the unpredictability of human relationships’ (Magorian 1981, cited by Mallon 2008: 21)
but their remoteness can assign the truths to fictional spaces. Some of the books
analysed above demonstrate reality that is distanced in unreality. In support of this
statement, and despite the concerns of possible gender stereotyping, fictitious stories
portraying poverty or uneasy family situations can help a child believe the feasibility of
creating a world they wish to ‘invent or inhabit’ (Gadd 2007: 3) rather than accepting
that the one they are in is all there is.
Mother-figures
The absence of mother-figures or the cruelty or misguidedness of step-mothers or
witches towards children, primarily girls, as in Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping
Beauty, and Rapunzel (Grimms 1815), contrasts with the role of fairy godmothers who
are all good. The bad-mother, good-mother characteristics are therefore embedded in
the characters. The work of object-relations discussed above determines the
acceptability of a ‘good-enough mother’ (Winnicott 1985), but in fairy tales, it is clear
that women are rarely portrayed this way. Traditionally, witches can represent that
‘dark’ side in people (Gadd 2007: 5202) and the symbolism of fairy tales reflects
underlying messages, clearly contrasting with explicitly instructional fables, in which
mothers teach and protect their children and in which dilemmas are entirely of this
world. Bettelheim concludes that contrary to fables, the symbolic meanings in fairy
tales are covert enough to lay dormant until our state of mind and development
requires them (Bettelheim 1976: 43). Read independently, therefore, fairy tale
messages could remain hidden due to the pure escapism that imaginative stories offer.
It is relevant to suggest that whilst the ‘dark’ side of fairy tales is obvious to adults, it
might be less obvious to children. The suggestion here is that since the primary
202 Gadd (2007) Fairy Tales Come True. [online] Available at
http://www.anngadd.co.za/2014/11/fairytales-come-true/ (accessed 13.8.15)
165
curriculum requires the use of fairy tales in teaching and they will therefore be
experienced by many children, some of whom will be bereaved, whatever the
deficiencies of fairy tales it could still be possible to use them to facilitate problem-
solving. This is partly because the familiarity surrounding the stories focuses a child on
the problem-solving aspect of the tale rather than on trying to remember an unfamiliar
plot. Furthermore, the problems within them are often discussed with untroubled
children with no need for developmental bibliotherapy for a specific problem. It is
important to re-state however, that there is a potential danger in the use of fairy tales
as other than stories for pleasure if used by professionals other than therapists. This is
particularly so given the lack of bereavement training for teachers. Undoubtedly, any
teacher finding the situation unmanageable should refer the case to an educational
psychologist and hope for some advice from colleagues in the meantime.
Financial constraints
Despite the educational and therapeutic arguments for bibliotherapy in schools, it
would be simplistic to ignore the practical issue of cost. Cook et al (2006) note that an
attraction of developmental bibliotherapy is its lack of high expenditure and they
maintain that bibliotherapy does not need ‘intensive training or immense financial
resources’ (Cook et al 2006: 93). With budget cuts of around two hundred million
pounds for ‘school improvement and behaviour support’ (Crow and Payne for NCB
2013: 24, 3.3.4) set for 2015-2016,203 an additional benefit is the financial viability of a
group of schools collectively training teachers in-house for developmental
bibliotherapy. Having ascertained that developmental bibliotherapy is possible to
implement in most primary schools, the opportunity for teachers to incorporate it into
school practice is dependent on several resource-related factors: the importance of
death and loss education to the headteacher and hence some budget allocation for
continued professional development; the available support from the school’s
designated educational psychologist; and budgeted additional classroom-assistant
support to allow the teacher time with a child.
Consequently, since the long-term benefit of training teachers outside of ITT to use
bibliotherapy would depend on the decisions of the headteacher and school governing
body, this argues for the need for headteachers to appreciate its benefits. Clearly,
203 The 2012-2013 expenditure for the area schools was £98654, compared to £114000 in
2011-12, and £169000 2010-2011.Available at (DfE) Table Six for all 3-year blocks.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-and-school-expenditure-on-
education-childrens-services-and-social-care-2010-to-2011 (accessed 25.4.14) also at same
address for each year.
166
whilst budget and time constraints on teachers in primary schools make provision of
additional teacher-support difficult, it is not insurmountable, as demonstrated by extra
support for supply teaching during National Attainment Tests. School budgets also
normally allow for supply teachers for the allocated, statutory ten per cent of non-
contact time for Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA).204 Reid (2002) stresses
that although problems of school finance will always exist, and they should not be used
to inhibit care of children (Reid 2002: 206). Nonetheless, the problem of time allocation
is exacerbated from the stipulation for bibliotherapy sessions to be cyclical rather than
once a week. This is to enable the development of a bond of trust between teacher and
child (Lucas and Soares 2013: 142) but unfortunately, holding cyclical sessions in a
school unable to finance extra support-staff could force a teacher to relinquish some
lunchtime, or PPA time, to implement the process.
CHAPTER CONCLUSION
A recurring theme of this chapter is that children can be helped to problem-solve in a
primary school through fictional developmental bibliotherapy, and that children’s
literature ‘can in very real terms reflect the lived concerns of young children’ (Riecken
and Miller 1990: 63). In support of this argument, Berns (2004) asserts that by sharing
the lives of a focalising character in a story, children can gain ‘insight, clarity,
understanding, and a sense of camaraderie’ (Berns 2004: 326). Elucidated above is
the lack of support available for children in Britain from adults experiencing
‘embarrassed denial’, requiring schools to step in, and although the follow-up stage of
bibliotherapy might require the support of a psychologist, (Pardeck and Pardeck 1984:
3, cited by Schlenther 1999: 30) Pardeck and Pardeck suggest that facilitators
untrained in psychotherapy can employ the first stages of the bibliotherapeutic process
without misfortune (Pardeck and Pardeck 1984: 3, cited by Schlenther 1999: 30).
Whilst there are clearly time obstacles and training issues for implementing
developmental bibliotherapy, primary school teachers’ knowledge of a class makes
them well placed to help bereaved children.
Partly, this is due to the amount of time primary school teachers spend with a class
which is significantly greater than the time spent with any one group in secondary
school and usually greater than the time spent with adults outside of the child’s family
(Afolayan 1992: 145). Furthermore, the six goals for bibliotherapy overlap what is
already taught in primary schools and it is therefore a clearly feasible process to
204 Primary school teachers are legally due this non-contact time, although its implementation
varies in each school, with some teachers taking the PPA colleague’s class.
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incorporate bibliotherapy into a school week. However, time limitations and a noisy
setting can reduce the opportunity to implement it. Also, there are disadvantages to
using bibliotherapy for bereaved children if teachers have received no training in
identifying children’s grief symptoms. Berns suggests that a facilitator needs to have ‘a
thorough understanding of childhood bereavement’ (Berns 2003: 332). Moreover, the
psychodynamic nature of exploring the past would suggest that teachers should not
only be trained to recognise grief in children, but also to know when a situation is
beyond their expertise. However, monetary cuts have been detailed as detrimental to
the number of school counsellors supporting teachers in schools.
Accordingly, Hunt (2006) asserts that since not all schools have counsellors assigned
to them and arguably, not all children require therapeutic counselling support (Hunt
2006: 40), a teacher who is sensitive to a child can be equipped to deal with their
immediate needs (Hunt 2006: 40). Schonfeld and Kappelman (1992) also emphasise
the importance of good provision for teachers and that as educators ‘we can best help
children cope with death and grief, whether expected or unexpected, by being
prepared’ (Schonfeld and Kappelman 1992, cited by Jackson 2006: 34). Just how
much preparation is required would depend on each case. Finally, whilst bibliotherapy
is acknowledged as effective in helping bereaved children (Milton 2004: 60) and there
has been research into the influence on children of the classroom setting, (Galda 1983;
Hayhoe and Parker 1990, cited by Benton 1990: 86) there is still insufficient empirical
data on teachers using bibliotherapy in British primary schools and which books are
most effective.
This is therefore an area for further research; a view validated by Essau and Ollendick
(2012) who affirm that research into the effectiveness of fictional bibliotherapy with
children is ‘a much neglected area of study’ (Campbell and Smith 2003, cited by Essau
and Ollendick 2012: 2). A clear argument for Its inclusion as a resource to include in
the primary curriculum is therefore an original contribution to the fields of educational
policy and literature.
168
169
Chapter 7
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF RESEARCH INTO
RELEVANT EDUCATIONAL POLICY
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses two types of policy; those written by schools, and agreed by
successive governors and staff 205, and those written by advisors and politicians, made
into law or statutory guidance, and defined as statements that can be made into texts
to be read and interpreted by a particular audience (Trowler 2003: 201); in this case,
Education. The chapter begins by showing an indepth trajectory of test-driven ‘policy
culture’, reflecting the goals and ‘dominant discourses and practices within public
bureaucracies’ (Lingard and Garrick 1997: 2, cited by Trowler 2003: 201), rather than
those preferred by schools. Beginning in 1870, the policy trajectory encompasses the
period of history discussed in other chapters, providing a background to current
education legislation. It also enables an interpretive view of why many primary schools
are not writing an internal policy for death and loss education, or prioritising continuing
professional development for teachers (CPD), to help teachers cope with bereaved
children.
The preceding chapters support a plausible assumption that discussing bereavement in
Britain206 is retarded from a prolonged existence of ‘embarrassed denial’. From
exploring the available research, including findings herein, it can be assumed that this
situation unavoidably infiltrates the fabric of many British primary schools, whose social
norms might be seen as a microcosm of the wider culture. Aris supports this view
stating that a ‘conspiracy of silence’ about death seems to include the fear of
incorporating death into the curriculum (Aris 2005: 50). The situation is possibly
hindered by a history of government initiatives forcing children’s academic results to
take disproportionate precedence over social and emotional learning. Conversely, Reid
(2002) asserts that ‘the role of the school extends beyond a responsibility of addressing
educational policies, and that whilst curricular content is important, the role of carer
must be a primary concern’ (Reid 2002: 194). Moreover, assessing teachers’ strategies
for addressing the emotional needs of bereaved children from death or other significant
205 Those policies required by schools to be written, agreed and made available to parents.
Statutory Policies [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/357068/statutory_
schools_policies_Sept_14_FINAL.pdf (accessed 1.9.15)
206 Not counting all religious practice in Britain.
170
losses largely relies on what the carer’s role is perceived to be; what teachers are
legislatively responsible for, and why death education in schools is negligible (Lowton
and Higginson 2003: 719).
These elements contribute to areas of research already flagged up as historically
lacking in Britain (Pratt, Hare and Wright 1987; von Eyre 1996, cited by Reid and Dixon
1999: 219). While there have been reports of the feelings and views of bereaved pupils
(Alexander et al : 2014) the reported views from teachers are lacking. This suggests a
need for more research exploring teachers’ opinions on effective and proactive support
for bereaved children (Lowton and Higginson 2003), and although modest, my
quantitative findings have considered that gap. Furthermore, whilst teachers’ attitudes
to death have been reported (Pratt et al 1987), the possible internal or external
obstacles affecting confident practice with bereaved children have been under-reported
(Lowton and Higginson 2003). To contribute findings to the field of research, this
chapter will explore the impact of some policies that have significantly affected the time
and resources available to teachers, and how legislation has influenced the priority
given by schools to areas falling within and without the statutory National Curriculum.
The training available to teachers, their accepted role with bereaved children, and the
funds available to train teachers, will be discussed in the light of CPD and school-
based counselling.
A policy gap
Over time and successive governments, policies are revised and added to. This
‘culture of policy’ reflects the goals and ‘dominant discourses and practices within
public bureaucracies’ (Lingard and Garrick 1997: 2, cited by Trowler 2003: 201). The
course of the original idea, to its implementation through education acts and reforms
can be followed. Perhaps surprising is the rarity of school-based policies to ensure
uniformity in the approach of teachers to discussing bereavement. Rowling (2003)
asserts that in England a lack of teacher training and education about grief will only
improve if there is ‘system level policy and training support as well as school
community and individual teacher recognition of their potential contribution to young
people’s wellbeing’ (Rowling 2003: 13). This view is validated by Crenshaw (1995) and
Holland (2001) who stress that ‘staff are unlikely to respond appropriately if they do not
have any guidelines to refer to, as they themselves, in certain circumstances may be in
a state of shock’ (Crenshaw 1995; Holland 2001, cited by Bowie 2000: 25).
171
Furthermore, and as previously emphasised, losses perceived as lesser losses do
affect children. The evidence review of the Impact of Family Breakdown on Children’s
Wellbeing (Mooney et al: DCSF and University of London 2009) reveals this as ‘a key
issue for policymakers since although the government supports stable relationships
between parents, where they break down there is a responsibility to provide support to
optimise positive outcomes for children’ (ibid. 2009: 1). Arguably, some of this support
must come from the class teacher, who is with the child for most of the day. It is
worrying that Shipman, Kraus and Monroe (2001) report less than ten per cent of
schools have a bereavement policy (Shipman et al 2001, cited by Mallon 2011: 50).
One area of thesis findings suggests that since 2001, the situation has hardly changed.
Schools have policies on non-curriculum areas such as Sex and Relationships and
Equality and Disability207, but rarely on managing daily death and loss208. An
experienced headteacher of an infant school in the geographical area of the sample,
recognises the personal limitations of staff, but considers a way round it:
I think that sometimes the reluctance to have a death and loss policy in school is
related to one’s personal experiences and sometimes due to leaders valuing the
wrong things in schools! There are times due to personal loss that leaders may
feel too emotionally unstable themselves to deliver death and loss [education] –
however in my opinion this topic should then be delegated to another leader in
the school. (Local Headteacher, name withheld, with permission to be quoted:
2014).
As the effect of loss on adults has been discussed above, this chapter will discuss
what determines school-based policy or government policies and whether policy for
children’s wellbeing ignores bereavement. I begin with a short history of the locus of
control and power in British schools.
HISTORY OF PROVISION AND REFORM
1870-1944
The need to reduce illiteracy, and widen accessibility to learning, led to the Elementary
Education Act 1870, before which, only some middle and upper classes could afford to
fund more than rudimentary schooling, mainly for boys (Trowler 2003: 1). Most
working-class children only received basic schooling, with the grant-assisted Church
208 This is not comparable to a Critical Incident policy.
172
schools one of the most important sources of education (Trowler 2003: 1)209. Rates-
funded schooling, overseen by School Boards, was made available to all children aged
five to thirteen (The Elementary Education Act 1870: 471, 74, p.1)210. Nonetheless,
before 1880, school attendance was not compulsory (Trowler 2003: 2) and it was only
after a period in which education provision was described as ‘chaotic’ (Ball 2008: 62,
citing Archer 1979) that schooling became an entitlement, rather than an option, for
children up to age ten. It was 1891 before school fees were abolished (Trowler 2003:
2). Provision for ten to fourteen year old children was not consistent until 1918, when
the school leaving age was raised to fourteen and control was transferred from School
Boards to Local Education Authorities (LEAs) (Trowler 2003: 2).
1944-1988
Despite the severe disruption to education (Gosden 1976: 72) of the war years, the
introduction of the ‘Butler’ Education Act of 1944211 demonstrated continuity of
progression. This act distinguished primary from secondary education, ensured
compulsory schooling for children aged five to fifteen212, and introduced the tripartite
system comprising grammar schools, secondary modern and secondary technical
schools (Trowler 2003: 2). In 1984, teachers’ influence on curriculum development was
reduced when the government abolished the Schools Council. The power of policy
making shifted to the School Examinations Council (SEC), whose members were
nominated by the Secretary of State, and the School Curriculum Development Council
(SCDC)213.However, the most noticeable changes came from the Education Act 1980,
214 possibly influencing later decisions as to how schools function (Trowler 2003: 6).
More power was allocated to schools and school governors (previously called
‘managers’), shifting control away from Local Education Authorities (LEAs) and
encouraging schools to compete ‘in a market environment’ (Trowler 2003: 6). The Act
also gave the Education Secretary more authority for policy making (Trowler 2003: 6)
thus consolidating a pattern whereby non-teaching individuals made educational
209 Private and voluntary schools were the other two important sources (Trowler 2003: 1).
210 Great Britain: 1870 [online] Available at
http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/acts/1870-elementary-education-act.html
(accessed 16.8.15)
211 Great Britain: 1944 [online] Available at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/7-
8/31/contents/enacted (accessed 16.8.15)
212 In 1972, the school-leaving age was raised to sixteen (McKenzie 2014: 219).
213 Education in England (8) [online] Available at
http://www.educationengland.org.uk/history/chapter08.html (accessed 2.9.14)
214 Great Britain: 1980:Chapter 20, Sections 1 and 2. [online] Available at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/20/pdfs/ukpga_19800020_en.pdf (accessed 16.8.15)
173
decisions. The momentum of policy change, and shifts in control, can be traced back to
the power structures created by 1980s Education Acts.
1988 and after
By 1988, teachers were considered too ‘conservative and resistant to change’ (Ball
1990, cited by Ball 2008: 110) and were removed from decision-making roles. Equally,
education was thought to have become too progressive, responsible for economic and
industrial problems, and no longer ‘fit for purpose’ (Ball 2008: 110). More reforms
followed to correct earlier problems. The 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA) (UK
Parliament [online] 2009: para.15)215 for England and Wales216was the first major
education reform primarily for England and Wales (with some extensions for Scotland
and Northern Ireland)217 for over forty years. Introduced to raise academic standards,
(Osborn, McNess, Broadfoot, Pollard and Triggs 2001: 6), it made comprehensive
changes to primary education, including the National Curriculum. Before this, ‘teachers,
schools and local authorities had determined the curriculum in each locality’ (National
Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) September 2009: 5)218. Now there was
uniformity, but no distinctiveness for curriculum content.
National Curriculum
Streamlining teaching into ten defined subject areas with prescriptive programmes of
study, created a volume of work resulting in ‘death by ring-binders’ (Graham 1993: 102,
cited by Tomlinson 2005: 62). The attempt to activate the enormity of the curriculum
document adversely affected teacher work-load, causing despair amongst many
teachers (Osborn et al 2001: 7). This statement can be viewed in the light of the
longitudinal PACE219 report (ibid. 2001: 7), which began after the Education Reform Act
1988 and charted the attitudes of teachers in Key Stages One220 and Two, from the
early to late 1990s. Teachers were seen as needing increased ‘technicist, cognitive
and managerial skills’ (ibid. 2001: 53) and the report suggests that most teachers felt
215 Education Reform Act 1988 [online] Available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmchilsch/344/34405.htm
(accessed 31.7.14)
216 Scottish education is under the jurisdiction of the Scottish Parliament and the Education
(Scotland) Act 1980 and the subsequent revisions in later acts. [online] Available at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/44/contents (accessed 20.8.14)
217 ERA 1988, Chapter 40, [online] Available at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/40
(accessed 23.8.14)
218 National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) [online] Available at
http://www.nfer.ac.uk/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=67EAAF91-C29E-AD4D-
07F1-A9373EA17105&siteName=nfer (accessed 9.8.14)
219 Primary Assessment, Curriculum and Experience (Osborn, McNess, Broadfoot, Pollard and
Triggs, 2000: 12)
220 Key Stage One, 4-7 years; Key Stage Two, 7-11 years
174
the increased workload to fulfil the new curriculum affected their relationships with
children (ibid. 2001: 54), diminishing time to talk with them, particularly in Key Stage
One (ibid. 2001: 55).
Special Educational Needs and the Elton Report
The earlier addition of more children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) to
mainstream classes, following reduced segregation into ‘Special Schools’221, put further
limitations on teachers’ time. Although the law allowing SEN children the right to
education in mainstream primary schools222 was not passed until 1993223 SEN children
without Statements224 could be admitted to mainstream following the Education Act
1981 (Chapter 60: 2: section 3a-c)225. Extra preparation and planning was required to
accommodate SEN children, adding to the constraints placed on the time available in a
working day for anything outside of teaching and assessment. Teachers had less time
to spend with individuals, and with some SEN children being also emotionally needy
(DES 1989: 147, s.20 and 1989: 149, s. 26),226 delivery of the National Curriculum
became (and remains) very challenging227.
The Elton Report (1989) into discipline in schools reasons that some of the unruliness
in classes is ascribed to pupils with SEN (DES 1989: 147, s.20 and 1989: 149, s.
26)228. Moore, Decker, Greenwood and Kirby (1993) emphasise the findings of the
survey commissioned by the Report (DES and Welsh Office, 1989), which found that
‘two out of ten primary school teachers found particular pupil behaviours difficult to deal
with, but the pupils concerned were identified as ‘troublesome’ rather than “troubled”’
(Moore et al 1993: 279) suggesting a lack of teacher knowledge of emotional problems.
Furthermore, Elton reveals the probability that teachers who struggled to help
emotionally troubled children, were relieved when disruptive pupils were absent (DES
and Welsh Office 1989: chapter 7, page 166)229. Despite the 1996 Education Act
221 Schools which catered only for children who were considered unable to access the full
academic curriculum available to children of that age.
222 As long as schools had the provisions to accommodate them.
223 Great Britain: 1993 (section 160), which was subsequently consolidated into the Education
Act 1996 (section 316).
224 See Glossary.
225 Great Britain: 1981(Chapter 60: 2: section 3a-c) [online] Available at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/60/enacted (assessed 25.8.15)
226 DES England and Wales, (Elton report) (1989) [online]. Available at
http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/elton/elton1989.html#06 (accessed 8.9.14)
227 This thesis in no way suggests that SEN children should not be in maintained schools.
228 DES England and Wales, Elton report (1989) [online]. Available at
http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/elton/elton1989.html#06 (accessed 8.9.14)
229 DES England and Wales, Elton Report (1989) [online] Available at
http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/elton/elton1989.html#09 (accessed 2.10.14)
175
stipulating that the education of SEN children in mainstream should not be
‘incompatible’ with the ‘efficient education’ of other non-SEN children (Great Britain:
1996: 316a) problems can arise for teachers of children who are labelled ‘difficult,’
especially when disrupting other children’s education.
However, the unacknowledged possibility that ‘difficult’ children were failing
academically from undetermined and unresolved emotional problems, reveals a failure
in the history of educational policy to recognise or prioritise children’s emotional needs.
Clearly, one example of this is the relationship between unsupported grief and its
contribution to low concentration levels or non-compliant behaviour (Moore et al, 1993:
279). Although not recent, the Elton Report usefully illuminates past experiences for
teachers of troubled children, and their influential legacy on recent policy.
National system of assessment
A further reduction in teaching time for addressing emotional wellbeing came from the
1991 introduction of National Curriculum Tests. Commonly called SATs230, individual
pupil test-results were set against nationally representative samples of pupils’ work.
From the test scores, a numbered level of achievement was found. The material
informed published League Tables (Ball 2008: 112),231 ostensibly to enable the public
to make a comparison of schools to make school-placement choices, but also providing
evidence of the progressive ability of individual children (Ball 2008: 112). However,
although end of Key Stage assessments were purportedly introduced for charting the
progress of individuals (Tomlinson 2005: 63) at age seven (and later at eleven and
fourteen232) teachers’ perception of the assessments was that they were primarily used
to assess the performance of individual teachers and schools (Tomlinson 2005: 62).
Schools accountability focused teachers on the tested areas, reducing time for talking
with upset children and for expanding other subjects. Dylan Wiliam (2002) berates the
tests for achieving nothing more than encouraging teachers to ‘teach to the tests’ (in
Henry 2002, cited by Tomlinson 2005: 138). Furthermore, teachers focused on core
230 Standard Assessment Tests
231 In 2002, Wales stopped setting National Attainment Tests and Tasks for 7 year olds at the
end of KS1. Teacher Assessment was still used and from 2005, end of KS2 tests made non-
statutory. [online] Available at
,http://www.nfer.ac.uk/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=67EAAF91-C29E-AD4D-
07F1-A9373EA17105&siteName=nfer (accessed 9.8.14)
232 National Attainment Testing at age 14 was ended in 2008 and is now not statutory in
England. Assessment Consultation Response (March 2014:6) [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/297595/Primary_
Accountability_and_Assessment_Consultation_Response.pdf (accessed 4.8.14)
176
subjects from the wider-reaching consequence of reduced allocated resources should
their published results reveal under-achieving pupils (Tomlinson 2005: 62).
Dearing Report
Arguably, the published levels for tests in English, maths and science233 were neither
indicative of the affective curriculum nor of children’s non-written achievement; a
particularly relevant dilemma for many SEN children. Outside of the school community,
account was not taken of children’s difficult home circumstances or emotional
problems, and their possible effects on test results. Even after a reduction in national
curriculum content in 1993 (Dearing 1993, cited by Tomlinson 2005: 63) and decreased
reported ‘levels of performance’ from ten level descriptors to eight in 1994 (Dearing
1994: 28, para.4.3: s1), teachers continued to feel pressurised to prioritise the
academic curriculum and achieve good national test results. The intention of Dearing’s
earlier stipulation that teachers should ‘exercise professional judgement on how best to
respond to the particular needs of their pupils’ (Dearing1994: 28, para. 4,s1) was
clearly restricted to improving test-related academic needs and skills in literacy,
numeracy and oracy (Dearing 1994: 28-9, paras. 416-420), or exploring ‘in more depth’
other national curriculum subjects (Dearing 1994: 7: paras. 4.3-4.4; section 2.4).
To show that released time was used ‘effectively,’ schools were to make ‘available for
inspection’ (Dearing 1994: 8; para.3.26; section 2.5a) records of how teaching time was
used. This caused problems for teachers needing curriculum time for managing
emotional children. Arguably, insufficient understanding of the effect of unresolved grief
on children’s wellbeing and achievement, coupled with the knowledge that allocated
funds could be reduced, resulted in non-prioritisation of the social and emotional needs
of troubled children highlighted as ‘disruptive’ (Elton Report: DES and Welsh Office
1989: Chapter 2, page 57)234. The Elton Report noted the high cost of help for SEN
children with learning difficulties235 although at least one LEA cited in the report
determined no need for special financial provision for emotionally disturbed pupils,
since this was not specifically recorded as a ‘learning difficulty’ (DES and Welsh
Office1989: 151, s.31). This was myopic for two reasons: teachers untrained as
psychologists but accountable for troubled children ‘have a standard educator role and
a duty of care role’ (Rowling 2003: 35) which includes the bereaved; and many children
are likely to underachieve academically with their concentration affected by grief.
233 Core subjects.
234 DES England and Wales, Elton Report (1989) [online] Available at
http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/elton/elton1989.html (accessed 2.9.14)
235 SEN children requiring ‘School-Action plus’ intervention, and Statemented children.
177
Furthermore, despite being originally intended as ‘complementary’ (Dearing 1994: 57,
para.7.7) to national tests, summative teacher assessments for the core subjects were
clearly under-valued by government. Consequently, with teachers’ time with children
hindered by ‘a very heavy assessment workload’ (Ball 2008: 103), and demands of
excessive paper-work, the accusations of ‘superficial teaching’ (Tomlinson 2005: 63)
further plummeted teacher morale (Ball 2008: 150). However, shortly after this period
of professional unrest, and high academic expectation, the government was reminded
that the wellbeing of children was insufficiently catered for and the discussion now
turns to bereaved children’s wellbeing, and Every Child Matters.
2003 Every Child Matters and wellbeing
Five Outcomes
Children’s wellbeing relies on their physical and emotional needs being met and there
is a direct link between troubled children’s wellbeing and low academic success. The
various losses experienced by troubled children can include the outcomes from
divorce, parental imprisonment, and the loss of adult protectors, turned perpetrator.
Following the high-profile death of Victoria Climbié in 2000 (Barker 2009: 9), the
Laming report (2003)236 condemned the lack of co-ordination between the services of
education, social care and health (Laming 2003: 3, s. 1.18, cited by Tomlinson 2005:
133). Alongside the report, which stresses the importance of the safety and wellbeing
of children, the consultation green paper Every Child Matters: Change for Children
(DfES September 2003: 5) 237 was published; its aim being to address the previous lack
of coherence between components of the children’s workforce. Part of this initiative
was Every Child Matters (DfES: 2003), which outlines the reforms for children’s
services in England. Within the document are the five outcomes that were suggested
by children and young people as necessary for both achievement and wellbeing:
1. Be healthy
2. Stay safe
3. Enjoy and achieve
4. Make a positive contribution
236 The Victoria Climbié Inquiry (2003) [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273183/5730.pdf
(accessed 7.9.15)
237 Every Child Matters: Change for Children 2003 [online] Available at
http://webarch.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publicatio
ns/eOrderingDownload/DFES10812004.pdf (accessed 10.8.14)
178
5. Achieve economic wellbeing(Every Child Matters, DfES 2003: 4, s. 1.1)238.
Apart from outcome five, interestingly the first four outcomes are not specifically related
to academic success, but relate to emotional competence. After Laming the
government suggested that the existing plans for the final publication Every Child
Matters should focus on four main themes (Barker 2008: 9), the fourth being:
4. ensuring that the people working with children are valued, rewarded and
trained (DfES September 2003: 10, s.20, cited by Barker 2008: 9).
Training
The Children’s Workforce Unit was set up within the Department for Education and
Skills (DfES) to support the improvements, and the green paper suggests the need for:
a common core of training for those who work solely with children and families
and those who have wider roles (such as GPs and the police) to help secure a
consistent response to children’s and families’ needs and a better
understanding of professional roles. (DfES, Every Child Matters: 2003: 11, s.20)
However, within those public agencies specified as needing ‘a common core of training’
(DfES 2003: 11, s. 20)239 apart from the suggestion that teachers receive training to
‘close the achievement gaps for ethnic minority students’ (DfES 2003: 28: s. 2.14) there
is nothing outlined as to what training teachers in their wider role would look like.
Without specifically identifying them, the implied expectation is that teachers will cope
without the training afforded to other professions. Perhaps more worrying, is the
suggestion that support staff could be trained to do some counselling (DfES 2003: 86:
s. 6.4), which shows a misunderstanding of what that entails240. Nonetheless, the Every
Child Matters (2003) green paper informed several further initiatives, including Every
Child Matters: Next Steps (DfES: March 2004a). This coincided with, and set out the
timetable for, implementing The Children Bill (Great Britain 2004) which outlined the
need for children’s services to address wellbeing (2004: Part 2, 6)241.
238 Every Child Matters (2003) [online] Available at
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/public
ations/eOrderingDownload/DFES10812004.pdf (accessed 3.9.14)
239 Every Child Matters consultation paper (2003) [online] Available at
https://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs/EveryChildMatters.pdf
(accessed 5.9.14)
240 This finding is supported by the quantitative data.
241 Great Britain: 2004 [online] Available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200304/ldbills/035/2004035.pdf (accessed 3.9.14)
179
The Children Act 2004 (November 2004: part 2, s. 9a-11)242 became law, setting out
the government’s approach to the wellbeing of ‘children and young people from birth to
age 19’243. The act clearly states that schools should contribute to the improvement of
children’s wellbeing (2004: 3, Part 2: 10:2 a)244 (2004: 6), defined within the areas of:
physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing;
protection from harm and neglect;
education, training and recreation;
the contribution made by them to society;
social and economic wellbeing.
Formal implications for schools
The 2004 Act was followed by the white paper Every Child Matters: Change for
Children (DfES: December 2004), which explicitly addresses the involvement required
from schools, Social Care, the Criminal Justice System and Health Services
(Cheminais 2008: 5, Table 1.1). The non-statutory guidance, Common Core of Skills
and Knowledge for the Children’s Workforce245 published in 2005 (DfES 2005) as part
of Every Child Matters, makes tentative steps towards alerting practitioners to ‘how
children and young people respond to change’ (DfES 2005: 17). It clearly states that
some children ‘may have to face particular and personal transitions, not necessarily
shared or understood by all their peers’ (DfES 2005: 16). These are shown to include:
‘family illness or the death of a close relative; divorce and family break-up’ (2005:
16)246. However, whilst the Every Child Matters series of resources and the Children
Act 2004 demonstrate the expectations that primary schools will share responsibility for
children’s wellbeing, accountability can only be equally assigned to all the children’s
workforce if funding for appropriate training for teachers is available.
242 Great Britain: 2004 [online] Available at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/31/pdfs/ukpga_20040031_en.pdf (accessed 3.9.14)
243 Available at
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100113202026/dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/abou
t/ (accessed 3.9.14)
244 Great Britain: 2004: section10: 2, a-e [online] Available at
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts2004/ukpga_20040031_en_3 (accessed 4.8.14)
245 Common Core of Skills and Knowledge. Transitions. [online] Available at
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100202100434/http://dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatter
s/strategy/deliveringservices1/commoncore/supportingtransitions/supportingtransitions/
(accessed 10.8.14)
246 Every Child Matters [online] Available at
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100202100434/http://dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters
/strategy/deliveringservices1/commoncore/supportingtransitions/supportingtransitions/
(accessed 10.8.14)
180
Arguably, the effect of loss on academic potential should suggest widespread changes
in policy and I now suggest there is a case for therapeutic education to have a
significantly higher status.
2003-5 Social Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL)
The place of therapeutic education for reducing the effects of loss on children, is
detailed in an innovative, government-commissioned report by Weare and Gray (2003)
‘looking at [w]hat works in developing children’s emotional and social competence and
wellbeing’ (DfES 2003: 456). It determines that since cognitive processes ‘need input
from the emotions to be effective’ (Weare and Gray 2003: 35) children’s poor emotional
wellbeing detrimentally affects their learning. While a sense of wellbeing, including
feeling safe and valued can promote learning, emotions such as sadness and anger
can block learning. However, the positive feelings from managing negative emotions
can ultimately assist learning (Greenhalgh 1994, cited by Weare and Gray 2003: 35).
The findings were instrumental in formulating the government-funded strategy used in
schools: Social Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL)247 248which recognises that
emotionally troubled children are disadvantaged in both their learning and their social
and emotional wellbeing. The SEAL targets are: new beginnings; going for goals;
getting on and falling out; good to be me (DCSF [2003] 2008: 3).
Whilst this incentive no longer receives monetary funding249, its inclusion in classroom
practice is still valuable for accentuating the importance of emotional health. The
contribution to be made by primary schools towards a pupil’s wellbeing is detailed in
the later 2005 Education Act (Great Britain: 2005: section 5f)250. Ecclestone and Hayes
(2009) challenge the role of therapeutic education (T.E.). They suggest that the goal of
T.E., addressed through teacher-led Circle Times (Ecclestone and Hayes 2009: 28)
and Nurture Groups (Boxhall 2002, cited by Ecclestone and Hayes 2009: 36) over-
emphasises ‘eradicating anti-social behaviour’ (ibid: 163). Many teachers would find it
challenging to justify non-academic lessons in the face of mandatory syllabi, national
curriculum targets and overcrowded timetables (Cranwell 2004: 2) however, they would
247 This initiative now receives no government funding (PSHE Association [online] Available at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/18/section/5(accessed 25.8.14)
248 The SEAL targets are differentiated by Year group and displayed in classrooms.
249 This report by Katherine Weare and Gary Gray was carried out by the Health Education Unit,
Research and Graduate School of Education, University of Southampton and the findings are
widely used in Primary Education as Appendix 2: Principles and features of effective SEAL
programmes.
250 Great Britain: 2005: section 5, [online] Available at
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/18/section/5 (accessed 4.8.14)
181
find it equally challenging to teach during disruptive episodes. Ecclestone and Hayes
(2009) also assert that improving emotional wellbeing is not an educational goal and
whilst they admit there is little empirical evidence to defend their argument, they
suggest that ‘children who are emotionally damaged need therapy from mental health
specialists outside the classroom’ (Ecclestone and Hayes 2009: 147).
Other chapters have critically discussed whether teachers are qualified to provide
certain therapies, such as bibliotherapy, and it should be reiterated that in primary
schools, the wellbeing and academic learning of individual children; bereaved,
emotionally-disturbed or otherwise, is often managed at short notice by the class
teacher who will use any helpful resource available to reduce interruptions to teaching
the remainder of the class. Nonetheless, the possibility that teachers should be passing
emotionally damaged children to other members of the children’s workforce, would be
approved by those teachers who feel uncomfortable discussing bereavement and have
no wish to include death and loss education in the curriculum.
2004 Select Committee for Health
The possibility that some children in mainstream schools will die from, or experience
bereavement from, a terminal illness whilst at primary school increases likelihood that
teachers will need to manage bereaved pupils. A memorandum submitted to the Select
Committee for Health by the Association for Children with Life-Threatening or Terminal
Conditions and Their Families (ACT)251 explored the general lack of support for dying
and bereaved children, and the effects of absent death education. The supplementary
memorandum from the later meeting in July 2004, cites problems encountered by
children who are spoken to in ‘euphemism and metaphor’252 and further maintains that:
Children are not encouraged to talk about death and so they do not learn the
appropriate language to use and in turn they are unsure about how to express
emotions regarding loss and grief. (ACT: PC38A: 27: 2004)253
251 ACT Memorandum (PC38A: July 2004) (HC) Minutes of evidence. [online] Available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhealth/454/4050617.htm
(accessed 1.9.14)
252 ACT Supplementary Memorandum (PC38A: July 2004) (HC) Minutes of evidence. [online]
Available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhealth/454/4050617.htm
(accessed 1.9.14)
253 ACT Memorandum (PC38A: July 2004). HC Minutes of evidence. [online] Available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhealth/454/4050617.htm#note2
7 (accessed 1.9.14)
182
Although the findings of select committees are not necessarily considered more than
advisory, in point 29 of the fourth report, summarised in the recommendations, the
Select Committee recognises the role of education in cultivating an awareness of death
within the curriculum (HC Select Committee For Health, 22 July 2004: PC38A: para.
135, s29) 254 . Further recognition of the wider influence of cultural attitudes on death
education is realised in the final summary of the report, which not only extols the need
for greater openness about death within schools, but also emphasises the role of
society to generally change attitudes to discussing death. The committee suggests
that:
The right to 'a good death' should be fundamental. We believe that social
attitudes are part of the problem, and that a willingness to be open about death
will facilitate better communication and ultimately better provision. We hope that
this is an area the Department for Education and Skills will address, both by
examining the place of education about death within the curriculum and within
teacher training. (HC Select Committee for Health, 22 July 2004: Para. 135,
s29)255 256
It can be seen below that the Select Committee supports the suggestion by ACT that
there is a need for teachers to face death education head-on via training, and possibly
through the curriculum.
ACT proposals to the committee were:
1. Schools should have a policy on how they should support an individual
bereaved child, their peer group and the wider school community;
2. Adults need to learn to talk in honest language so that children can understand
and learn the facts about death;
3. Schools should address death and loss as a natural part of the curriculum, not
as a separate subject;
4. Children should begin to learn about death as part of the curriculum at Key
Stage 1;
254 The excerpt is taken from pp1-5 of the government paper, Hansard Archives Research
Minutes of Evidence. [online]
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo051013/text/51013w08.htm
255 Select Committee for Health. Fourth Report. [online] Available at http://www.parliament.the-
stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhealth/454/45410.htm (accessed 30.8.14)
256 Select Committee for Health. Fourth Report. [online] Available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhealth/454/45403.htm
(accessed 1.9.14)
183
5. Training is essential for teachers to give them confidence in talking about death
and supporting children who are bereaved or experiencing other losses.
The summary of recommendations above suggests how death can be ‘a natural
element of many other subjects’ (ACT: PC38A, July 2004: 26)257 and the proposals
stress the specific recommendation that ‘death is taught as early as Key Stage One, so
that children can begin to learn the appropriate language258 and develop an awareness
of death based on fact’ (ACT: PC38A, 2004: 26 July). The Commons Health Select
Committee therefore supports the need for young children in the primary school to hear
the language of death in order for them to understand it.
2008 NICE recommendations
Seventeen years ago, Spall and Jordan identified unsupported teachers as feeling
‘inadequate’ and ‘emotionally drained’ from the experience of dealing with bereaved
children (Spall and Jordan 1999: 4) However, since the recommendations in their
study, Teachers’ Perspectives on Working with Children Experiencing Loss (Spall and
Jordan 1999: 5), which suggest supporting teachers to learn about the different
reactions to loss, there has been little evidence of death education existing for primary
school communities (Potts 2013: 96). In 2008, the National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence (NICE) was asked by the Department of Health (DoH) for guidance
into social and emotional wellbeing in primary education (2008) which was reviewed by
the Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee (PHIAC). Recommendations from
NICE followed, suggesting that more research should be carried out into possible costs
and methods to measure the health and wellbeing of primary-school children (NICE
2008: Recommendation 3259).
Furthermore, under the NICE recommendations for targeted approaches with children
of four to eleven years of age, the public health guidance states that teachers and
practitioners should be trained to ‘identify and assess the early signs of anxiety,
emotional distress and behavioural problems among primary schoolchildren’ and that
this may include children who have experienced ‘adverse life events, such as
bereavement or parental separation, and those exposed to abuse’ (PHIAC 2008:
Chapter 1, Recommendation 3).
257 ACT Supplementary Memorandum HC Minutes of evidence. [online] Available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhealth/454/4050617.htm
(accessed 1.9.14)
258 This thesis has already discussed the need to avoid euphemisms.
259 NICE [online] Available at http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/PH12/chapter/1-
Recommendations (accessed 14.8.15)
184
2005, 2007 Parliamentary debates
Death education CPD for teachers is not common, and aside from financial priorities,
the lack of interest from government could influence schools to relegate its importance.
Despite attempts to clarify the role of schools for managing bereavement, outside of
children affected in Northern Ireland, there has been little success in achieving House
of Commons debates (Rt. Hons. Villiers and Eagle: 13 October 2005). Moreover, there
has been insufficient interest to even lead to a debate. The Child Bereavement
Network (CBN) campaign, Grief Matters for Children, which was launched publicly in
2006, motivated a parliamentary Early Day Motion260 led by Edward Davey MP,
supporting the CBN and suggesting the need for teachers to be trained to support
bereaved children (Davey 2007, cited by Potts 2013: 3). 261 Despite gathering support
from sixty-two MPs, the motion did not provoke enough support from backbench
opinion to be debated in the House of Commons (HC 25.7.07: 2023)262 and provides a
further example of cultural uninterest.
TEACHERS’ SKILLS IN RELATION TO POLICY CONCERNS
Embarrassed denial
Stokes (2004) states that despite adult misconceptions about what is acceptable for
children to discuss, ‘[c]linical observations of over 2000 children…suggest that being
given permission to talk about, and remember their dead family member in a way that
is meaningful for them is very comforting for most children’ (Stokes 2004: 4)263.
However, in exploring the role of schools in addressing death and loss, Jackson and
Colwell(2002) note that whilst it is essential that children receive correct information for
them to cope with death, adults frequently avoid the subject, believing that children will
somehow manage better by not knowing (Jackson and Colwell 2002, cited by Aris
2005: 50). This attitude of ‘embarrassed denial has been highlighted above as harmful,
and is summed up by Aris:
If something appears to be kept mysterious and the children are given the
impression that it is wrong to ask about it, then they are left to work out their
260 Early Day Motions [online] Available at
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/early-day-motions/
(accessed 10.8.14)
261 Available at http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2006-07/2023 (accessed 25.7.14)
262 Available at http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2006-07/2023 (accessed 5.10.14)
263 Every Child Matters (2004: 4) [online] Available
athttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publi
cations/eOrderingDownload/DFES10812004.pdf (accessed 4.8.14)
185
own explanations – and this may be much more disturbing than the facts could
be. (Aris 2005: 51)
This assertion gains support from an earlier survey into the health needs of British
primary school children undertaken by Balding and Shelley (1993), which reveals a
disparity between children’s needs, and adult perceptions of them. Despite children
being interested in death and loss, the survey shows that it was not prioritised by
teachers and parents (Balding and Shelley 1993, cited by Rowling, in Best 1996: 272).
Bowie’s more recent study of two non-denominational Scottish primary schools looked
at death education in the primary curriculum (Bowie 2000) and underlines this
inconsistency. Not only did seventy three per cent of primary school children
questioned think about death and dying to some extent, but over a third of the children
‘revealed this as a subject which they would like discussed in their class’ (Bowie 2000:
24, 26). However, teachers in the study relied upon a passive approach to death
education, only informing children about death when required to do so 264. Bowie(2000)
qualifies a possible reason for differences in attitude, suggesting that adults avoid the
topic of death, considering it ‘morbid’ (Bowie 2000: 22).
Moreover, by disassociating themselves with its inevitability, they can perhaps become
impervious to it (Bowie 2000: 22) exacerbating death denial. Alternatively, earlier
research in England by Spall and Jordan (1999) assumes that teachers’ reticence
comes from fear of losing emotional control and being thought ‘unprofessional’ (Spall
and Jordan 1999: 3). Both reasons are credible, but regardless of the overriding
reason, Potts identifies that despite the Grief Matters for Children campaign by the
CBN (2006), any progress made towards elevating the profile of death and loss
education in schools remains slow (Potts 2013: 96).
Other research, by Eiser, Havermans, Rolph and Rolph (1995), explored the resources
teachers perceived were available to them for discussing death and loss with children,
and how teachers felt about including the area of loss and bereavement in the
curriculum (Eiser et al 1995: 32). The research reveals a lack of bereavement training
for teachers and negligible death and loss education curriculum time for children (Eiser
et al 1995: 32, cited by Best 2002: 27). Further empirical research into how teachers
can be enabled to feel more confident with bereaved children, is therefore potentially
useful, and the inclusion of death education in initial teacher training and continuing
264 Although the teachers were working in Scotland, it is unclear whether the teachers were all
Scottish.
186
professional development is now discussed.
Initial training and continuing professional development
The 2010 white paper The Importance of Teaching (DfE November 2010)
acknowledges that schools have a fundamental role in the health and wellbeing of
children (DfE 2010: 28; 2.48) agreed by the 2013 Public Health research paper on ITT
provision in the South East of England, (Shepherd J, Dewhirst S, Pickett K, Byrne J,
Speller V, Grace M, et al. 2013: 20). However, there is no suggestion that the
‘importance of teaching’ requires CPD for death education. Since the Education
Reform Act 1988, the pressure on schools to use CPD for raising academic standards
has clearly been influenced by the need to address subject-based testing. The
continued emphasis on raising standards is reflected in the intention that from 2016,
primary schools will have at least eighty five per cent of eleven year olds ‘secondary-
ready’. This will be measured by ‘tests, pass marks and minimum standards’ (Clegg
2013265) as recently reiterated by the Right Honourable Nicky Morgan
MP266(2015)267.There is no suggestion that disadvantaged pupils are possibly
bereaved pupils, whose emotional state could affect academic achievement.
Additionally, findings from Shepherd et al (2013: 107) in which Initial Teacher Training
(ITT) providers and trainee teachers were interviewed, confirm that provision for health
and well-being on ITT courses was ‘variable.’ Furthermore, a 2011 report on CPD for a
cluster of primary schools suggests that priority was given to courses attracting
government-led funding, and centrally-based supply costs (Ridley 2011: 10) to cover
teacher absence. This left little room for CPD for children’s emotional needs from
bereavement, despite teachers having historically shown reduced confidence in
managing situations for which they are not trained (Spall and Jordan 1999: 4).
However, an experienced local Headteacher of an infant school with a successful
death education policy and programme, suggests that CPD would be easily arranged
and financed:
265 Raising Ambitions and Standards for Primary Schools [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/raising-ambitions-and-standards-for-primary-schools
(accessed 10. 6. 2014)
266 Secretary for Education.
267 Hundreds of Coasting Schools to be Transformed. (Notes to Editors) [online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hundreds-of-coasting-schools-to-be-transformed
(accessed 31.8.15)
187
“We don’t have money in the budget to teach death and loss” – another excuse
in my opinion. A study day at Winston’s Wish268 for teachers is £115 – a small
price to pay for one member of staff to then cascade the information to others.
(Local Infant School Headteacher, name withheld, and permission given for the
quote).
The role of counselling
Before 1999, there is little evidence of schools in Britain approaching counselling
services to support the emotional and behavioural wellbeing of pupils in primary
education (Thompson 2013: 3). This suggests that schools either didn’t recognise the
need, or mostly tried to solve problems in-house by other means. However, if they are
to fulfil the goals set out by ECM and SEAL, school-based counselling should be
readily available. Since teachers are not usually also counsellors, the question arises
as to why more schools are not employing services from charities such as Place2Be 269
which was the only service for primary-school counselling identified in the MindEd
report (Thompson 2013: 1). There are several possibilities: understanding, finance, and
embarrassed denial.
Teachers’ understanding of counselling
One possible setback to provision is a full appreciation by teachers of what counselling
is and what it can achieve; a situation possibly hindered by the DfES (2003) green
paper for the Children’s Workforce, already discussed. The situation is outlined in a
recent report into the availability of school-based counselling and its effects on primary
schools (BACP 2013: 3). Commissioned by the British Association for Counselling and
Psychotherapy (BACP)270 the MindEd project (Thompson 2013) Thompson identifies
that misinformation on the role of counselling leads to teachers either having
‘unrealistic expectations’ of what counsellors can do, they do not think to refer pupils in
need (Thompson 2013: 27). The report findings state that the majority of school-based
counselling appointments are provided not by counsellors employed by schools but by
external counselling organisations whose services are bought in. Whilst not all troubled
children are bereaved, I have taught many that are, and the discussion above reveals
that this situation is not unusual.
268 A bereavement charity with a base in Southern England.
269 Place2be Guidelines for Head teachers. Available at
http://www.place2be.org.uk/media/2168/P2B%20head%20teachers%20guide.pdf (accessed
26.8.14)
270 Available [online] at http://www.bacp.co.uk (accessed 4.10.14)
188
Improved wellbeing
A 2014 report by the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre (CWRC) citing Holland
(2001), maintains that with training and support, and knowledge of the additional
resources available to bereaved pupils, teachers could not only help children but
reassure themselves that responsibility for counselling pupils will not be an expectation
(CWRC 2014: 21). However, the suggestion that schools use counselling is not new. In
2003, Weare and Gray’s report suggests that schools and LEAs should ‘consider the
use of counselling services for pupils and staff’ (Weare and Gray 2003: 59). They cite
Rutter et al (1998) who found that counselling helped ‘at-risk and behaviourally
disturbed pupils’ (Rutter et al 1998, cited by Weare and Gray 2003: 58). Further
evidence of improved academic and emotional wellbeing comes from a recent report
(2012/ 2013) by Herlitz, Naag and White (2013) on behalf of the charity Place2be,
strongly linking the relationship between children’s attainment and their general
wellbeing271 (Herlitz, Naag and White 2013: 10).
Academic improvement
Teachers who had referred pupils, whose ‘difficulties’ had previously adversely affected
classroom learning (ibid.) reported academic improvement after counselling in sixty five
per cent of children and in seventy per cent of children who had been considered a
‘burden on the teacher or class’ (ibid.). Parents suggested an even more optimistic
figure of seventy four per cent of children improving (ibid.). Additionally, over two-thirds
of children, sixty seven per cent, were reported to have improved their wellbeing after
counselling (ibid.). Whilst the majority of head teachers who responded to the MindEd
survey (2013) reported that school-based counselling services ‘had led to
improvements in pupils’ behaviour, educational attainment and school attendance’
(Thompson 2013: 5), Atkinson (2013) from Place2be states that only fifty per cent of
UK primary schools ‘may have counsellors’ (Atkinson 2013, cited by Thompson 2013:
6).
This could be not only from lack of understanding, but from the Gillick ruling (1985) in
England and Wales that followed the case of Gillick vs. Norfolk and Wisbech Health
Authority. This ruling is interpreted to mean that for children under thirteen to agree to
counselling they must have ‘sufficient understanding and intelligence to do so’ (Bailey
and Harbour 1999, cited by Thompson 2013: 4). In some situations, teachers might
271 Herlitz, Naag and White [online] Available at
http://www.place2be.org.uk/media/2168/P2B%20head%20teachers%20guide.pdf (accessed
26.8.14)
189
have doubts that full understanding is apparent or in certain cases, parents might
withhold consent. However, regardless of understanding, a reason cited for teachers
not referring pupils for counselling is finance.
Funding for counselling
Thompson cites responses from counsellors and service managers, blaming
insufficient funding to pay for the counselling service (Thompson 2013: 11).
Furthermore, Jenkins and Polat (2006) assert that unless it is used for SEN pupils,
counselling has not the ‘legitimate claim on scarce resources’ (Jenkins and Polat 2006:
8) despite the benefits for educational achievement (Ibid: 9). Were the numbers of SEN
children small, it would be expected that the need for counselling would be rare.
However, Wilson and Refson (2006) report that the children accessing Place2Be were
‘three times more likely to have special educational needs status than the general
population’ (Wilson and Refson 2006, cited by Thompson 2013: 39) with more than
forty-four per cent of the children counselled by Place2be being SEN children272
(Herlitz, Naag and White 2013: 5). Although it is not clear whether referrals were also
bereaved, the discussion above details that troublesome children are often troubled
from loss-related situations. Nonetheless, financial constraints from funding appear to
have historically been an unequivocally contributory factor in school-based counselling
provision; an assessment agreed by Jenkins and Polat (2006: 10).
Financial constraints are particularly evident in the provision for counselling services in
England. In April 2012 the Welsh government allocated £4.75m to provide accessible
counselling services for Year 6 primary school pupils (Thompson 2013: 4). However, a
third of respondents in the BACP survey (2013) voiced concern not only over schools
receiving insufficient funding for them to continue using school-based counselling
services (2013: 11), but the variance in counsellor qualifications.
Comments supporting these concerns include:
Primary schools [are] ending contracts because of the lack of funding, then
using inappropriately qualified people to cover the work with children
because it is cheaper.’ (Service manager, MindEd BACP survey response,
cited by Thompson, 2013: 11)
272 Compared with 20 per cent of the local population (Herlitz, Naag and White 2013: 5) [online]
Available at http://www.place2be.org.uk/media/5688/Childrens%20outcomes%202012-
13%20primary%20schools.pdf (accessed 27.8.14)
190
Further concern was that school budget cuts would leave some with no means for
counselling services (Thompson, 2013: 11) and no available room to conduct private,
uninterrupted sessions. However, since 2011, schools have been granted a sum of
money for disadvantaged pupils, known as the Pupil Premium. In a local infant school
with nineteen eligible pupils, the amount awarded to the school for 2012-2013 was
£6230 and the impact from the finance is available to parents on the school website.
The Ofsted evidence report Unseen Children Access and Achievement: Twenty Years
On (Ofsted 2013) asserts that schools have autonomy on how to spend the pupil
premium but that the funding was not always targeted closely on those pupils who
needed it, or on those interventions that had a track record of successfully raising
achievement (Ofsted 2013: 62). However, an analysis report of impact data based on
2010 figures from Place2be states that:
A conservative assessment of the economic impact of Place2Be’s services
indicated that for every £1 spent on early intervention support for children, there
was a return on investment of £6 in terms of savings to society. (Cost-Effective
Positive Outcomes for Children and Families, Place2Be, 2010: 8)
Clearly, happier children could enable schools to raise their academic results.
Counselling in the geographical area of sample
To support findings in this chapter, I explored attitudes to counselling in the
geographical area of sampled schools and I also obtained figures for the number of
trained counsellors assigned to primary schools273 in that area. At the time, the
revealed figure was startlingly low. Out of 112 primary schools274, only one was listed
as having a counsellor ‘to support bereaved children and families’ (Counsellor Grid
One for 2009, accessed 12 February 2009,), with two schools having access to the
same counsellor who, for one day a week, was assigned to the local secondary school.
One further school had a Family Support worker, and a Special School was supported
by two charities: Winston’s Wish bereavement charity, and the ******Snowdrop Trust, a
charity based in the locality providing care at home for children with terminal illnesses.
More recently, information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act 2014,
states that ‘there is no longer a ********275County Council C ounselling S ervice
available to schools. This ended in 2014’ (September 2014, by email, see
273 For ‘primary’ this includes infants, juniors and through primary schools up to Key Stage 2.
274 This figure did not count special schools.
275 name withheld
191
appendix). The expectation that schools will employ a service that offers teacher
education as well as help for children, is problematic when it relies on schools financing
the involvement. This is particularly so in schools where a high proportion of troubled
children, some bereaved, already pulls on finance. However, lack of understanding
from teachers and a reduced school-based counselling service are situations that could
have arisen from a school culture of discomfort with discussing ‘difficult’ subjects with
children.
CHAPTER CONCLUSION
This chapter has explored a trajectory of Education Acts and reforms in an attempt to
expose possible reasons for the lack of policy for death education in primary schools.
Three main areas have been proposed as probable explanations for the problem;
academic expectations, financial implications and teacher’s reluctance to discuss
bereavement. The absence of school-based policy for managing daily death and loss is
doubtless partly motivated by the lack of commitment from successive governments to
train teachers in death education, and the priority given to national testing. Whilst the
need to fulfil the academic potential of all children is important in preparing them for life,
meeting one criterion of Every Child Matters (DfES 2003), research suggests that
children with unresolved grief find it hard to concentrate on academic work and fall
behind their peers. Some of these children will be labelled as SEN and will attract
individual educational plans. Teachers untrained to recognise grief symptoms will
continue to experience the challenging behaviour of some troubled children.
Arguably, although some teachers do understand the root of a child’s behavioural
problems, the pressure on schools to increase academic standards to result in eighty
five per cent of primary school pupils being secondary-ready, creates a climate where
the time needed to improve their emotional wellbeing comes second to that needed for
core subject teaching and academic testing. It is debatable whether schools are unable
to finance death and loss education for teachers, or whether they simply prioritise other
areas. A potential recent obstacle to monitoring good death education practice in
Britain is the fragmented, multiple-funding arrangements brought about from
educational change, making it increasingly difficult to generalise about what directives
are in place in all primary schools. Some schools are LEA managed, but increasingly
192
more have Academy status, or are ‘Free’276 Schools, less impeded as to what is taught
and how funds are used for teachers’ CPD.
It is likely that some schools only introduce training once they have experienced the
death of a child or teacher. A further consideration is whether the pupil premium grant
is spent on additional educational resources or counselling and related therapies, such
as sand or art therapy. Undoubtedly, the 1990s cultural emphasis placed on academic
results contributes to a pedagogical climate in which the trend for academic
achievement has outweighed the significance of successful therapeutic education.
Having a knowledgeable teacher to talk to whilst waiting for external help could make a
huge difference to the wellbeing of some children waiting for counselling. However,
excluding expense, some teachers lack insight of what counselling can achieve and
who should be referred for it. When Sir Al Aynsley-Green completed his term as
Children’s Commissioner for England in 2010 and was appointed patron of the CBN,
his vision of the network was that ‘in every community there would be someone for
children and families to turn to, and in every school someone who understands how to
support grieving children’ (Aynsley-Green 2010, cited by Potts 2013: 95).
This statement follows the earlier expressed hope by the Parliamentary Health Select
Committee that ‘a willingness to be open about death will facilitate better
communication and ultimately better provision’ (DoH 2004: 6: 135). That hope remains
largely unfulfilled in many primary schools. Ultimately, if the wellbeing of children
bereaved, or to be bereaved is not met in primary education, the detrimental effects on
academic progress and unresolved emotional problems could prevent those children
being ‘secondary-ready’. However, notwithstanding policy and finance, the possibilities
explored are that death is still a taboo subject in Britain and a climate of denial
infiltrates primary schools277. Having established that there is no legislation requiring
that schools write and publish a policy for daily death and loss education278,
nonetheless, having worked in a school that has one, I would argue that the benefits to
the whole school community are clear.
There is an obvious benefit to the academic progress made by emotionally challenged
children who are given extra school support from the head teacher and class teacher in
liaison with educational psychologists and counsellors. Whilst researching, I taught a
276 Free schools do not have to follow the National Curriculum and are not LEA controlled.
Types of School [online] Available at https://www.gov.uk/types-of-school/free-schools (accessed
11.9.15)
277 Notwithstanding other religious cultures with an open ethos.
278 Available for parents to read on school web-sites.
193
class with forty per cent SEN children, some of whom had unresolved losses and
severely challenging behaviour. Four children were initially extremely disruptive to
teaching, and required a range of incentives279 that were only possible due to the
addition of extra support staff and learning support assistant time on a daily basis. All
children made academic progress, and due to the emotional needs of the SEN children
being addressed, the end of Key Stage levels of achievement in the remaining sixty per
cent of the class rose significantly in value added280, equalling those of the other two
Year Two classes.
However, lack of time and finance are unlikely to be the only reasons that schools do
not prioritise CPD, or writing a policy for daily death and loss. Despite children
obviously welcoming intervention, teachers’ attitudes to helping bereaved children have
been shown to affect their willingness to talk to them. Hopkirk (1988) suggests that
adults commonly perceive that ‘the pain of children is so distressing that it is very much
easier to devote our energies to working around them than to working directly with
them’ (Hopkirk 1988, cited by Kroll 1994: 29). This is likely to be the scenario for
teachers untrained in bereavement management and unsupported by an environment
in which death is not freely discussed. The 2014 Primary National Curriculum (NC) for
England clearly hinders progress. It states that ‘lessons should be planned to ensure
that there are no barriers to every pupil achieving (DfE 2013: 8, s. 4.3). There is,
however, no statement suggesting other than academic achievement.
The tendency for the restrictions in the curriculum to exacerbate the problem, is
illustrated in the new Primary National Curriculum (DfE: 2013) for science, which
expresses a statutory requirement that ‘Year Five should be taught to ‘describe the
changes as humans develop to old age’ (DfE 2013: 168). There is no mention of dying,
a discussion of which could naturally develop. It seems reasonable to expect that by
Year Five, some children might at least have experienced the death of a grandparent
or be doing so in the future and research suggests that shrouding a life-changing event
in mystery, and making it taboo, could detrimentally affect children’s psychological
wellbeing (Jackson and Colwell 2002, cited by Aris 2005: 50). Consequently, it can be
said that whilst the factors of finance, legislation and academic results, coupled with
constraints on teacher time, undoubtedly contribute to the lack of death education in
schools, it is nevertheless realistic to suggest that enduring cultural death denial of
279 These comprised: Social Stories, behaviour charts, Home-school books with positive
statements in, reward times, art therapy, extra ‘time’ out’ with a teaching assistant, extra support
during inputs and a daily behaviour log written by me and sent to the Educational Psychologist.
280 Some children moved up 3 to 4 assessment levels.
194
invisible death prevails, and affects teachers’ confidence in dealing with bereavement,
and possibly parents’ attitudes to teachers discussing loss with children. Nonetheless,
it is time that schools fulfilled their requirement to help all children achieve wellbeing
through the five healthy outcomes in Every Child Matters (DfES 2003: 4, s. 1.1)281 and
for initial teacher training and CPD to include resources to ensure that every bereaved
child matters.
281 Every Child Matters [online] Available at
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/public
ations/eOrderingDownload/DFES10812004.pdf (accessed 3.9.14)
195
Chapter 8
CONCLUSION
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study was to explore the management of death and loss in primary
schools in a largely ethnically homogenous and historically ‘Christian’ shire county and
to fill an apparent gap in research detailing what teachers feel able to do to help
bereaved children. An initial premise led to a suggestion that teachers are largely
untrained to manage bereavement. Prior research by Crenshaw (1995) and later
Holland (2001) and Holland and McLellan (2015) agree that bereaved children’s
wellbeing is not sufficiently met by schools, but that this situation derives from causes
largely out of teachers’ control, with inappropriate training cited as a reason for schools
not knowing how to respond (Holland and McLellan 2015: 124).
Obstacles considered in the previous chapters for their influence on schools include a
cultural climate of embarrassment about death in which teachers inevitably live.
Teachers’ attitudes to death have been reported (Pratt et al 1987), however, the
possible internal or external obstacles affecting teachers’ confident practice with
bereaved children have been under-reported (Lowton and Higginson 2003). Chief
among these, I argue, are: a deficiency of government policy for death and loss
education; policy emphasis on raising academic standards; and insufficient finance for
other than academic curriculum with the possibility that policy and finance are related.
These factors are manifest in many teachers’ experience by both an increased
workload and reduced available time for development outside a narrowly conceived
‘academic’ focus, an absence of ITT and CPD in death and loss education and a lack
of available support for bereaved children from school-based counsellors.
I have argued that the cultural climate of ‘embarrassed denial’ is historically specific
and is distinct from attitudes and expectations in the nineteenth century, which have
been radically changed by two world wars, economic changes, the position of women,
secularisation and medicalisation. In many respects these changes are reflected in the
children’s literature I examine.I conclude that despite the obstacles some low-cost
interventions by teachers are possible, through bibliotherapy, though I do not advocate
its amateurish adoption.
196
The cultural and psychological context
The literature review began by tracing a changing trajectory from 1870 to 2015
detailing innovative empirical research by Gorer (1965) and Parkes (1972), and later
studies by McLeod (2006), and more recently Walter (1994) Jalland (2005; 2010),
Strange (2010) and Whaley (2011). This research collectively demonstrates that wars,
secularisation, medicalisation and the psychologising of grief have impacted on current
cultural282 attitudes to discussing death and loss, mourning and bereavement. Data
show that this change is not countered by the high profile of ‘visible’ deaths prominent
via the media, or even a ‘revival of death’ supporting greater freedom of choice in how
and where to die. The review revealed the nineteenth century emphasis on religious
‘good death,’ which has metamorphosed into a more publicised desire for death to be
dignified and ‘pain-free’. Yet despite openly discussing choice, communities are
noticeably inhibited when sharing condolences, and apprehensive if contemplating
including children in death rituals.
This account has therefore supplied a scaffold on which to research other disciplinary
areas, in particular the parallel history of death and loss in children’s literature.
Arguably, the deployment of this aspect of interdisciplinary data as a way of
contributing to the field of educational policy provides an original approach to
suggesting workable resources for primary schools. The second area of the literature
review, exploring attachment theory and the psychology of loss, provides a further
understanding of grief and its long-term effect. The concepts explored here confirmed
that adults lack appreciation of the effect on children of death, and suggest that there is
misunderstanding of the effects on children of so-called ‘lesser losses,’ such as divorce
and parental imprisonment.
From discussing theory from psychoanalysts such as Fonagy, and particularly the
innovative work of Bowlby and Winnicott, an analysis of comparable psychological
themes in a range of children’s death and loss fiction could be explored. This included
didactic texts, more recent picture books, and one book in which the author’s portrayal
of childhood mourning changed from the original, during language translation. The
book analysis not only supports the claim that cultural attitudes to death and loss are
set in a social context, but that they have changed over time, following significant world
events. This framework provided a foundation to inform the under-researched field of
developmental bibliotherapy. As consideration of this process for its use in British
282 All references to culture do not include non-Christian religions.
197
primary educational practice is a neglected area, this element of the thesis fills a
significant gap in research and makes an original contribution to knowledge in the fields
of literature and education.
The key findings of the thesis will now be considered, before making suggestions for
future recommendations and policy implications. Whilst not directly asking children for
their views, they are nonetheless represented in this study from my research, and I
start with an argument that due to teachers being untrained in death and loss
education, an aspect of children’s wellbeing, outlined in the Children Act 2004 (Great
Britain 2004: 3, Part 2: 10:2 a) is not being met. To recap, the questions arising from
the two literature review chapters comprised:
How have teachers’ attitudes to helping bereaved children been affected by the
historical trajectory of death and mourning, and what evidence exists from research
into loss psychology that teachers should be trained for bereavement management?
What are schools doing to prepare and support teachers for death and loss?
Does children’s literature from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first reflect a similar
trajectory to the historical evidence of adult attitudes to death and loss?
Could teachers untrained in psychology use books bibliotherapeutically to begin the
process to help bereaved children?
Have constraints of time, finance and expected academic standards significantly
reduced the opportunities for teachers to improve the wellbeing of bereaved children?
I now discuss these questions with reference to the findings of the thesis.
DISCUSSION
How have teachers’ attitudes to helping bereaved children been affected by the
historical trajectory of death and mourning, and what evidence exists from research
into loss psychology that teachers should be trained for bereavement management?
What are schools doing to prepare and support teachers for death and loss?
Politicians and teachers are part of a community who influence, and have been
influenced by, the cultural context in which they live. The effects of the events detailed
in the trajectory of death and mourning reveals that discussion of death and loss has
198
become more awkward and that an ‘embarrassed denial’ has suffused British culture
and the micro-culture of schools. Loss psychology clarifies that adults are largely
unaware of children’s need to have teachers and peers acknowledge bereavements
and that a lack of understanding can cause bereaved children to be bullied for being
different. Research reveals that seventy-three per cent of primary school children
questioned, admitted they think about death and dying to some extent, and over a third
of the children in a British study ‘revealed this as a subject which they would like
discussed in their class’ (Bowie 2000: 23).
Findings of a recent parliamentary debate which explored whether teachers understood
mental health issues, exposed surprise from politicians that thirty-eight per cent of
those children asked said they wanted to know more about bereavement283 (HC Deb:
March 2015). Although the question did not necessarily relate only to primary school
children, the reply demonstrates the trustworthiness of my assertion from the literature
review that adults misunderstand the need for younger children to talk about death or
feel ill equipped to help them. Despite the evidence in the literature review revealing
that at least 24,000 children a year are bereaved, recent research by Draper and
Hancock (2011: 289-290) states that because statistical data on bereavement is not
compiled centrally, figures for the number of bereaved children in Britain are difficult to
verify, with ‘significant’ bereavements very hard to quantify. The figure could therefore
be higher, and I would echo Draper and Hancock in asserting that since childhood
bereavement holds a high risk of later delinquent behaviour, identifying bereavement is
a crucial role of schools.
Whilst I have discussed the negative role model for children that fettered adults can
bring to a situation (Dyregrov 2007: 72), and the benefits of an open school death and
loss ethos, my data showing that schools do not provide enough support for teachers,
confirms others’ qualitative findings that teachers’ attitudes are affected by what is
considered acceptable in wider culture. I have reported a good deal of material from
many different sources to uphold the premise that attitudes to discussing death and
loss have altered over time. My quantitative research suggests that the reticence with
which personal death and loss is discussed could well impact on teachers’ professional
unease. Whilst ninety-three per cent of my respondents had at some point taught a
bereaved child, only thirteen teachers out of thirty-four who had spoken with bereaved
283 (DoH: CAHMS) Available at [online] http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2015-03-
03a.883.0&s=bereaved+children+in+school#g901.0 (accessed 11.5.15)
199
pupils commented on how that experience felt, suggesting that they found it hard to
admit the difficulty. Only four teachers stated that suffering personal bereavement
helped them talk to grieving children.
Seven teachers, in different schools, none of whom had received any significant death
and loss training outside of a single staff meeting, acknowledged that talking with
bereaved children was ‘hard’, ‘difficult’, that they felt ‘at a loss’ and that they felt they
should ‘have the answers,’ especially when children became distressed. The five
teachers who did feel they had coped suggested good listening skills helped them.
Training teachers in death and loss education and bereavement management seems
essential. Notwithstanding seven studies from different geographical regions, spanning
from 1995 to 2013, there are insufficient empirical data outlining the classroom practice
employed by teachers to meet the needs of bereaved children. My findings make an
original contribution to a neglected area of educational research, and support the
indications in the literature review that teachers of bereaved children employ a mainly
passive approach. This maybe due to lack of expertise or awkwardness, and the
concern that children might become inconsolable or that the teacher might lose
emotional control.
As regards what schools are doing to support teachers, my findings suggest that
schools are doing so little that it is easier to report what they are not doing. Despite
seventy per cent of schools dealing with a bereaved child at any one time, the 2001
finding (Shipman et al) that ninety per cent of primary schools have no school-based
policy for death and loss education appears not to have noticeably improved over time.
Research by Tracey and Holland (2008) and Potts (2013) shows a similar shortfall in
sampled schools in different geographical areas. This deficit of current policy for death
and loss suggests a failed top-down approach to school-based policy writing. Further
evidence for the influence of government policies on the virtual absence of death and
loss education comes from the finding that no schools in the purposive sample had a
written death and loss policy, either at the time of sending questionnaires or in 2015.
Although these findings relate to a small geographical area, they nonetheless
contributes original data to previous research and confirm that other schools might also
be doing ‘not very much’ in raising the profile of death and loss education. Furthermore,
some teachers and teacher researchers confuse a policy about dealing with death and
loss with a critical incident policy. This finding is important, not only for confirming the
low profile of death and loss education, but also for recognising that a lack of policies
200
about them could have arisen from teachers and heads not realising that the two
policies are different.
Although one headteacher volunteered a statement that in her opinion, finance is not
the overriding reason why teachers are untrained for death and loss education, the
likelihood that finance contributes to choices made by headteachers cannot be
discounted. Furthermore, I have shown that the 2011 report on CPD for a cluster of
primary schools prioritised attendance at courses attracting government-led funding.
The centrally based supply costs (Ridley 2011: 10) to cover teacher absence were not
for death and loss courses. My teacher respondents confirmed this. Although over
ninety per cent of them had taught a child bereaved by death, only twenty per cent of
the sample had ever received any CPD training, sometimes restricted to just one staff
meeting. The teachers were often at a loss to know what to do or say when faced with
a distressed child. Prior research asserts that teachers in different geographical areas
of the UK are not receiving death and loss education (Crenshaw 1995; Eiser et al284
1995; Bowie 2000; Jackson and Colwell 2002; Rowling 2003 and Potts 2013), either
during Initial Teacher Training (ITT) or Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
My own and other’s qualitative findings suggest that a ‘conspiracy of silence’ about
death seems to include the fear of incorporating death into the curriculum (Aris 2005:
50) and that this possibly affects training provision and even teachers’ willingness to
utilise helpful resources. In my purposive sample few County and charity bereavement
resources were known by respondents, and were not utilised by teachers who did know
of them. As I have pointed out, the usefulness of social and emotional learning (SEAL)
for primary school-aged children is agreed by the report from NICE (2008),285 yet
although sixty-eight per cent of teachers knew of SEAL286 (Weare and Gray 2003) ‘loss
and relationships’ literature, only thirty-nine per cent of teachers had ever used it. This
suggests that written resources without discussion do not sufficiently equip teachers to
help bereaved children. The teachers I surveyed confirmed other research that the
national provision for death and loss education in ITT and CPD for primary school
teachers is ‘variable’ (Shepherd at al 2013).
There is also a clear need for government finance to re-introduce school-based
counsellors, and for there to be a clarification for what teachers can realistically
284 Eiser C., Havermans T., Rolph P. and Rolph J. (1995)
285 NICE [online] Social and Emotional Wellbeing in Primary Education (PH12) Available at
http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/PH12/chapter/1-Recommendations (accessed 11.11.15)
286 Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning
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provide. Having highlighted a gap in research seeking teachers’ opinions on proactive
and effective support for children (Lowton and Higginson 2003) over a third of teachers
in my sample confirmed that counsellor support would help them manage bereaved
children, despite research discussed in the educational policy chapter suggesting that
the benefit of counselling resources and the role of the counsellor are not sufficiently
understood by schools. This supports the research I also cite from the MindEd project
(Thompson 2013) that identified teachers’ distortion of the counselling role. The report
shows that whilst some schools, my own included, use their pupil premium funds to
buy-in counsellors, others do not, despite the proven benefits to children’s emotional
happiness and academic success.
My survey showed that in 2009, although no schools had a full-time counsellor, there
were nine part-time. A change of policy subsequently removed the school-based
counselling service in the area, most likely for financial reasons. Although additional
LSA and TA help is regularly purchased to raise academic results, there is no
guarantee that schools will redirect funds and pay for counsellors from Place2be or
similar organisations. Furthermore, whilst I maintain that teachers should be trained to
understand how to talk with bereaved children, which is arguably a counselling skill,
clarification is needed for the terminology of ‘counselling’ to be reconsidered and for
teachers to be defined as ‘loss-support’. Eighteen teachers in my sample saw
counsellors as being necessary for their own use, as much as the children’s, and
agreed that a school-based counsellor would be ‘someone to talk things over with’,
‘trained to understand and support them’. Furthermore, when asked whether anyone
held a responsibility post for death and loss in their schools, only six teachers in the
sample thought someone was responsible, fourteen confirmed no-one was and
nineteen teachers stated that someone should be responsible.
As nineteen teachers were unsure if anyone held the position, the survey confirms the
low profile of death and loss education and the lack of support for teachers in the
sampled schools. This finding also makes an original contribution to the research into
what teachers actually do to help the bereaved and what they feel equipped for.
Does children’s literature from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first reflect a similar
trajectory to the historical evidence of adult attitudes to death and loss?
The decision to research and analyse the contents of some well-known children’s
books from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first century achieved two gains.
202
Firstly, it filled a suggested gap in knowledge, since description, rather than analysis, of
children’s loss-related literature has been more usual (Moore and Mae 1987: 54, citing
Kimmel 1980, and Walker 1978). Secondly, such analysis confirmed a similar trajectory
of adult attitudes to death and loss as that discussed in the chapters of the literature
review. A particularly valuable contribution of the children’s literature data is the
analysis of books depicting child-attended death ritual. The didactic element of earlier
books demonstrated that children were once expected to be involved in death rituals
and mourning, and that dying was discussed with reference to religious ‘good death’.
The obvious later decline in stories affirming that death was not only normal but
promised something better than life, supports the premise that the exclusion of children
from death-talk and ritual is an adult construct reflected in cultural history through
books.
By examining books after the Second World War, during which time Britain became
more secularised, hints of death and after-life are mainly suggested from the use of
portals into magical worlds. The themes discussed in the second chapter of the
literature review, which charted psychological research into attachment theory and
loss, are reflected in the story concepts of reality and non-reality, this world and
another, the me and the not me, and internal and external realities. Moralistic
messages are less pronounced and didactic ‘teaching’ texts less obvious, although
some didacticism is unavoidable. The inclusion of books that do tackle the theme of
death presented a new, twenty-first century finding of the current taboo of not
discussing terminal illness.
Could teachers untrained in psychology use books bibliotherapeutically to begin the
process to help bereaved children?
In exploring what teachers do to manage bereaved children it was clear that a lack of
government policy, finance, training and school-based counsellors might be an
obstacle to supporting primary school teachers in death and loss education. However,
my exploration of using books, particularly fairy-tales, to help bereaved children clearly
argues that there are inexpensive resources that teachers untrained as counsellors
already use to good effect every day, a use which could be further developed with
external support if needed. Bettelheim detailed how fairy tales could also be used for
problem-solving, a skill promoted in the primary curriculum. An understanding of how
this genre and other children’s fiction might be employed by teachers of bereaved
children, updates past research suggesting that from ‘broad exposure to differing
203
problem settings, children will be exposed to the idea that there are many different
ways to solve problems and make decisions’ (Riecken and Miller 1990: 62).
As a result of this original research I would seek to define and promote developmental
bibliotherapy as a natural curriculum area, not least because it has been suggested
that the importance of personal qualities including empathy and patience, hopefully
present in teachers, are possibly more relevant to the success of the process than
psychotherapeutic training (Afolayan 1992: 144, citing Edwards and Simpson 1986).
This argument does not detract from the need for educational psychologist support for
some children, or for teachers to be trained to recognise when that support is required.
I have also pointed out the scarcity of British books for younger children that are
bereaved by parental imprisonment287. This reflects the assumption shown by my
sampled teachers and my educational policy findings that divorce and parental
imprisonment are widely perceived as ‘lesser losses’. Consequently, affected children
become ‘hidden mourners’ and it is worth restating that in England and Wales, 200,000
children each year have a parent imprisoned (Action for Prisoners’ Families 2013;
Morgan et al 2014: 269),288 which is a significantly higher figure than the annual
number of children whose parents newly divorce.
Have constraints of time, finance and expected academic standards significantly
reduced the opportunities for teachers to improve the wellbeing of bereaved children?
An analysis of educational policy, scrutinising data from a wide range of education acts
and reports, demonstrated that over time government provision for death and loss
education has not changed. I pointed out in the educational policy findings that in the
last ten years the success of parliamentary motions to discuss the role of schools in
helping bereaved children is negligible outside of Northern Ireland. Past research
suggests that in the UK as a whole, schools have echoed this failing by not writing
school-based policies for bereavement (Lowton and Higginson 2003; Rowling 2003).
My findings also suggest that historically, ‘bereaved children’ have gone undetected,
mis-diagnosed as ‘troublesome children’. My findings suggested that this deficit of
287 This is relevant from the need for schools to teach children English spellings, rather than
American
288 Action for Prisoners’ Families (2013) Facts and figures About Prisoners’ Families. [online]
Available at
http://www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk/uploadedFiles/2010_Publications_And_Resources/Facts_an
d_figures_about_prisoners_families_June2013.pdf (accessed 24.6.15)
204
policy for death and loss could be linked to the 1990s introduction of a content-based
national curriculum and national attainment testing. This data demonstrated the
pressure on schools and the effects on teachers of increased teaching workload
(Osborn et al 2001: 55), reducing time for teachers to talk to troubled children. My own
classroom experience agrees with the premise that time to talk with bereaved children
is an issue, especially if there are several ‘disturbed’ children needing help in one
classroom.
However, insufficient time is not the only reason, nor necessarily the dominant reason
for the present situation. Recent government reports (The Importance of Teaching
2010; Raising Ambitions and Standards for Primary Schools 2014) still neglect to
acknowledge the relationship between good emotional wellbeing, and improved
academic success; only measuring children’s ability to be ‘secondary ready’ from the
results of academic testing. I would argue that emphasis on raising academic results is
an obstacle to finding time and money for death and loss CPD for teachers. My
evidence also argues that despite Every Child Matters, the emphasis on raising
educational standards through a test-driven policy culture ignores the needs of troubled
pupils whose emotional state affects their learning potential289. Although Ecclestone
and Hayes (2009) suggest that emotional wellbeing is not an educational goal
(Ecclestone and Hayes 2009) sampled teachers responded that children known to be
bereaved ‘lacked concentration,’ suggesting a link between emotional health and
academic achievement.
Arguably, neither wellbeing nor school achievement have been helped from
bereavement not being traditionally considered a ‘learning difficulty’, despite a contrary
view articulated as far back as 1989 (Elton), and despite the Education Act 1996
stating that the progress of non-SEN children should not be affected by those unable to
behave appropriately. Iwaniec and Pinkerton (1998: 143, cited by Potts 2013: 98)
discuss the concept of a ‘hidden population’ of children who are not represented,
despite their behaviour often reflecting their distress. These findings are important for
summarising a generally unacknowledged link between troublesome children and
bereavement.
Additionally, the increased numbers in mainstream schools of children with special
educational needs from terminal illness has long contributed to a situation where
289 SEN pupils were admitted to mainstream classrooms following the Great Britain:
1981(Chapter 60: 2: section 3a-c)289
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teachers are increasingly required to teach children who will die, as well as supporting
other pupils affected by the loss (Eiser et al 1995: 32). Although recent funding
promised in 2013 for trainee teachers to be offered placements in ‘special schools’290 it
does not change the lack of support for qualified teachers in mainstream schools.
RECOMMENDATIONS
So far, apart from a sprinkling of small-scale research studies, most research has
explored teacher’s attitudes to death, rather than what initiatives they employ to deal
with bereaved children on a daily basis and this is an area that requires further
investigation. To summarise, my findings suggest that there has been negligible
improvement in the number of schools writing policies for death and loss and the low
profile of death and loss education perpetuates from insufficient government policy and
pressure to raise academic standards. This reduces teachers’ available time to talk
with bereaved children and provides a dilemma for teachers who are untrained in death
and loss, have no responsible person to advise them and have no school-based
counselling support.
I consider lack of finance to be a smaller problem for schools than the cultural
disinclination to discuss bereavement, however, the possibility that adequate finance
exists, does not imply that it would be channelled towards helping bereavement without
some directive from government. As a result of this research, undertaken over several
years of my teaching career, at times teaching very troubled bereaved children, I would
make several recommendations. These are divided into areas that have arisen in my
research.
My research showed that despite some interest from a few members of parliament,
there is negligible debate outside of select committees on the subject of the wellbeing
of bereaved school children. Nonetheless, my educational policy findings suggest that
mainstream schools need a directive from government to warrant allocating time and
finance for something other than raising academic results. Although it is difficult to
envisage what that policy directive might look like, there is clearly a need for
government to recognise that schools need more support. As my sample findings
suggested that teachers lack confidence in knowing what to say to distressed children,
death and loss training for teachers must begin with ITT lectures for trainee teachers. A
module on the psychology of loss, how to recognise grief symptoms in children; the
290 Children and Families Bill 2013 (February 2013: 67: 53)
206
importance of acknowledging a bereavement, what to say about funerals, and not
using euphemisms, would be useful tools that have been addressed in my own training
of colleagues.
The effect of losses on children perceived as ‘lesser losses’, such as imprisonment of
parents and parental substance abuse, would also raise the profile of ‘hidden
mourners’ and help reduce the stigma. Legislation similar to that implemented for SEAL
could provide schools with classroom resources for death and loss education for
children. Divided into termly plans, objectives could include allowing discussion
opportunities and role-play to help children understand peers’ reactions to death and
loss, and that talking might help. My findings suggested that bereaved children could
feel different. Ensuring that bereaved children feel included and understood is therefore
very important for more reasons than personal wellbeing in the current climate.
Arguably, by writing policy for death and loss education for teachers and children,
government would lead by example. Although this in itself would be insufficient to
encourage schools to write their own policies, an effective measure would be to include
death and loss education in the list of policies required to be published on school web
sites. My findings showed that there is at present no requirement. A sample policy from
my own school demonstrates that writing such a policy is a simple task, and ensures all
staff are in accord (see appendix). The policy suggests that there should be a support
group which would ensure more than one person would be responsible for death and
loss. A clear rationale endorsing training, the use of resources and the avoidance of
euphemisms is needed as well as agreement that all weekly staff meetings begin with
a sharing of information about bereaved children.
There should be documentary guidance for all primary schools to receive death and
loss CPD for teachers. This would ideally include a five-yearly refresher course, in-
house or with a group of schools, for all staff and for those already in post who received
no ITT on death and loss education. Ultimately, the responsibility of schools to provide
a duty of care for all children, alongside the lack of time and an increasingly results-
driven culture requires headteachers to make a stand and ensure that training occurs
and a culture of openness for discussing death and loss exists. My own school has
achieved this, partly due to the vision of the headteacher and my research and training
of all staff. It is cautiously suggested that in the same way that SENCOs are trained for
special needs work, there should be similar training for death and loss responsibility
roles. In 2015, SENCOs in my geographical area attended a course for a day a month
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over twelve months, demonstrating that schools are prepared to release teachers to be
trained in specific areas.
As my research shows a link between SEN children and bereavement, it would be
reasonable to extend teachers’ knowledge to include grief symptoms, signs and
causes, and how to advise colleagues teaching a bereaved child. Furthermore, CPD
for the initial process of developmental bibliotherapy, using fairy tales or compassion
books to problem solve, would be a useful inset day in schools. My sample findings
suggest that some teachers use books with children, and some would like to but
haven’t; yet all schools have access to books. Whilst books such as The Snowman
(Briggs: [1978] (2013)) provide opportunities to discuss death and loss, no teacher in
my sample mentioned having used it to discuss bereavement generally or more
specifically. A library of compassion books, that can be read to and with children, or
borrowed by parents, has proved useful in my own school and is used by teachers
regularly. As already stated, training would assist teachers in recognising when
external support was needed, but my findings also suggested that there is a clear need
for government policy to provide finance to re-introduce school-based counsellors, and
for there to be clarification for what teachers can realistically provide.
My own experience suggests that the beginning of the school day is often a time when
a distraught parent will seek the teacher and wish to talk about bereavement. It is also
a time when teachers must be vigilant for children’s personal safety due to the extra
risk posed by unidentified adults. This led me to write an inexpensive Parent Pack for
parents to read until I could meet them later. Often the contents answered many of
their questions and prompted others, but one of the most important chapters in the
pack details how children grieve, and what to say about funerals291. A pro forma for all
primary schools in which their own local contact numbers for bereavement and loss
support could be added would ensure that parents had initial help and reduce pressure
on teachers. My school also has a Memorial Bowl (see appendix) in which children
place pebbles on which they have written names of dead people or pets.
FINAL REFLECTIONS
The inductive nature of my research design has suggested there is a situational
synchronisation between the world at large and the school. The demands of employers
and the esteem with which academic achievement is held culturally, helps determine
291 I intend to revise, add to and publish this pack.
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government initiatives and school priorities, which in turn influence culture. The
widespread disinclination to acknowledge the importance of tackling bereavement in
children suggests that culturally, an overriding perception is that small people have
small feelings and are not equipped to understand loss. My extensive analytical
reading of documentary evidence related to education and children’s emotional
wellbeing or success has revealed a surprisingly high deficiency of the words
‘bereaved’, ‘bereavement’, ‘grief’, or ‘loss’.
In summary, it is debateable whether insufficient death and loss education in primary
schools is dominated by one factor. There seem to be several inter-related causes. The
lack of government policy influencing school policy, alongside cultural mis-
understanding of children’s reactions to grief, accompanies a possibly white, middle-
class fear of causing offence (Howarth, 1997, cited by Valentine 2008: 149). Media
influences on perceptions of death, loss and mourning suggest the need for
broadcasters to take greater responsibility for depicting children attending funerals.
Similarly, children should be shown seeing ‘dead’ bodies and discussing feelings of
grief openly with adults and other children, non-euphemistically. As the school is in part
a reflection of the wider culture in which it is located, such dramas would make good
class discussions.
I suggest several areas where more empirical research into death and loss education is
needed:
Exploring what more schools are actively employing and what training
teachers require to help bereaved children.
Examining how developmental bibliotherapy can be successfully implemented
by teachers in primary schools.
Increasing knowledge of the relationship between child bereavement, wellbeing,
and educational outcomes, as discussed in the Revised Child Bereavement
Review (DfE and CRC 2014: 14: 2.2)
Finally, although for reasons stated above this thesis has not included multi-cultural
attitudes to death, it is acknowledged that teachers who fear causing offence (Milton
2006: 58) might cite the diversity of religious beliefs in their classroom to support
decisions to avoid discussing death and loss. Further research exploring how faith
communities can assist teachers with such discussions could encourage greater
understanding of children’s perception of death across cultures.
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APPENDICES
Planning for intended Interviews
As well as the scheduled opportunity for headteachers to alert me to any bereaved
respondents prior to interviews, I also aimed to have the contact numbers and web
sites of counsellors and organisations to be made accessible for all interviewees. This
is in keeping with the ethics of the thesis and the qualitative data informing interview
questions, in which the effects of grief, and particularly unresolved grief, and the
longevity of the sorrow accompanying loss were to be discussed. I aimed to borrow
equipment from the university so that I had two machines operating to ensure that
should equipment fail, I had an alternative.
I aimed to put interviewees at their ease, beginning with general chat about the
questionnaires. Although I hoped to acquire more indepth answers from interviews,
interviewees were to have control over questions they would rather decline answering
and be at liberty to stop the interview at any time. Furthermore, interviews were
planned to be ‘a conversation with a purpose’ (Kahn and Cannell 1957: 149, cited by
Marshall and Rossman 2006: 101) and it was important to allocate enough time for the
respondents to ask and answer questions, whilst clarifying that no interview should
exceed one hour. Gillham notes, however, that allowing interviewees an opportunity to
add in anything omitted that they consider important and relevant should be part of the
closure phase of interviews (Gillham 2008: 79) and this was realised.
Andersen and Arsenault maintain further that by bringing interviews to a definite end
the interviewee is clear when the interview is over (Andersen and Arsenault 2002: 187).
Furthermore, a time limit focuses the interview pace, reduces the transcription time
needed afterwards, and ensures that all interviewees have equal opportunity to
respond. Additionally, interviewees were to be offered a choice of venue, bearing in
mind the lack of suitable, private rooms in some schools and the possibility of transport
problems for disabled teachers.
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Questionnaire
1. Are you male female (please circle)
2.Please circle your age span:
21-25 26-35 36-41 42-50 51-60 61-65
3. How long have you been teaching? ---------------------------------------------
4. What religion are you, if any? ---------------------------------------------
5. Could you outline what you would consider to be a ‘good death’,
e.g. pain free, quick, at peace with God, controlled by the dying person,
in hospital, at home, unconscious....
Other ideas, please comment
This section is about your own CHILDHOOD bereavements
This section is about your OWN childhood bereavements.
Please comment, in the strictest confidence.
6. Were you bereaved as a child? Y / N When? 0-5 years 6-9 years 10-12years teens
. Please ring the age span or state age
7. Who was the person who died? …………………………………………………………………………………
8. Was a teacher aware of the death? ………………………………………………………………………….….
9. Did a teacher discuss the death with you? ……………………………………………………………………
10. Did a teacher discuss the death with the class? …………………………………………………………….
11. Was professional bereavement counselling offered to you? ……………………………………………….
12. Did a teacher use a book(s) to help you? …………………………………………………………………...
13. If yes, which ones do you remember?
14. Did the support you were offered help? ………………… How? Or why not? Please comment
211
15a. Did you see the deceased? …………………… 15b. Did you attend the funeral? ……………………..
15c. If not, in either case, was there a reason for this?
16. Did you suffer other losses? (e.g. house moves, parents’ divorce, loss of pet, loss of limb, friend) Y / N
The next part of the questionnaire will be about your own ADULT bereavements.
17. Have you been bereaved as an adult? Yes / No
If you have been bereaved more than once, could you discuss ALL with corresponding numbers?
18. Who died? (relationship to you)
1 2 3
Relationship
19. How long ago?
20. Did you attend
the funeral?
20a Did you see the .
deceased
after death?
Please continue overleaf if you wish to comment more.
21. If you were teaching, did your school staff know of the death(s)? Y / N
21a Did they discuss death(s) with you? Y/ N
212
22. Were you offered any professional counselling? Y / N
23. Is there a procedure in your current school where all staff are informed of any death? Y / N
Please comment, or use overleaf.
24. Do the children know of staff bereavements? Y / N / sometimes
25. If yes, who informs the children and how?
Bereavements of pupils
26. Have you at any time taught any child/ren who has been bereaved by a death? Y / N
Child 1
Child 2
Child 3
Child 4
27
Age
28
As far as you know was the
family, broadly speaking,
rooted in British culture and
traditions or would you say
the family culture was
influenced by roots or
connections outside the UK?
UK
elsewhere
UK
elsewhere
UK
elsewhere
UK
elsewhere
29
What religion was the child’s
family?
Christian
Christian
Christian
Christian
Jewish
Jewish
Jewish
Jewish
Hindu
Hindu
Hindu
Hindu
Muslim
Muslim
Muslim
Muslim
Sikh
Sikh
Sikh
Sikh
Other
Other
Other
Other
None
None
None
None
30
What was the relationship of
the deceased to the child?
Child 1
Child 2
Child 3
Child 4
31
Which losses have any
children in your class dealt
with in the past 12 months?
Death of
parent
Death of
parent
Death of
parent
Death of parent
Death of
Grandparent
Death of
Grandparent
Death of
Grandparent
Death of
Grandparent
Death of
Sibling
Death of
Sibling
Death of
Sibling
Death of Sibling
Death of other
close relative
Death of other
close relative
Death of other
close relative
Death of other
close relative
Death of
friend
Death of
friend
Death of
friend
Death of friend
Loss of limb
Loss of limb
Loss of limb
Loss of limb
Divorce of
Divorce of
Divorce of
Divorce of
213
parents
parents
parents
parents
Loss of
contact with
parent
Loss of
contact with
parent
Loss of
contact with
parent
Loss of contact
with parent
School move
School move
School move
School move
House move
House move
House move
House move
Parent
imprisoned
Parent
imprisoned
Parent
imprisoned
Parent
imprisoned
Death of pet
Death of pet
Death of pet
Death of pet
Other(please state)
If there were several children, please choose one child to discuss below.
32. Did you discuss the loss(es) with the child? Y / N please comment
33. With the class? Y / N please comment
34. Did the child who had experienced the loss indicate a desire to discuss it with you? Y / N
please comment
35. Did you discuss the loss(es) with the bereaved child’s/children’s family? Y / N please comment
36. With school staff? Y / N please comment
37 Please comment overleaf on how discussing the loss(es) was for you.
If you feel you needed more help in the situation, what would have helped you?
214
38. Did you notice any unusual behaviour from the child focused upon above? Please ring
any applicable.
Quieter More aggressive Tearful Moody Argumentative
Clingy to parent or carer/ to you Other-please state
If the loss was a death
39. Did he/she attend the funeral? Y / N / not sure
40. Did he/she view the deceased in hospital or at a chapel of rest? Y / N / not sure
41. Did he/she ask to do these things? Y / N / not sure
For any loss
42. Did he/she want to be at school after the loss? Y / N / not sure
43. Did he/she need time out at school during the day? Y / N / sometimes
Was there somewhere he/she could go? Y / N
YOUR SCHOOL. All sections are to be used anonymously for research only.
44. Do you have a whole school action-plan in place for dealing with bereavement? Please comment on
how this works.
45. Is there a written policy for Death and Loss Education? Y / N / in progress/ don’t know
46. Do you use books to help grieving children discuss their loss? .......
Please comment how (overleaf if necessary), numbering the answer 44.
47. Is there a library of books IN SCHOOL to help? Please tick any of the following that you USE...
Badger’s Parting Gifts The Fall of Freddie the Leaf
215
Dogger Goodbye Mog
Goodbye Mousie Goodbye Daddy
Two Homes It’s Not Your Fault, Koko Bear
Two of Everything Beginnings and Endings and Life Times in Between
.
47a.Do you use other books? Please list below or number the question and continue overleaf.
48. Is there a professional bereavement counsellor assigned to your school?
Part-time / Full-time / No / Don’t know (please ring)
49. Do you think there should be one? YES / NO / NOT SURE
50. If yes, what difference do you perceive this would make to dealing with bereaved children/staff?
Please comment…
51. Have you had any Inset days/ staff-meetings to provide training in how to deal with loss, death and
bereavement?
YES / NO
51a How many in the last 3 years? ………………
51b Are there any planned? YES / NO / NOT SURE
51c. Would it / does it, help to have them? YES / NO / NOT SURE Please comment
52. At staff meetings, do you and colleagues discuss children who are grieving due to death and loss?
YES / NO
216
53. Is it a subject you and your colleagues talk about in the day? YES / NO Please comment.
54. If you had training, would you find it easier to discuss death and loss on an everyday basis?
YES / NO /NOT SURE
55. Do you cover death and loss as part of your school curriculum? YES / NO /NOT SURE
Please say where, if you know.
56. Do you personally usually use euphemisms for death with children, e.g. gone to sleep, gone with the
angels? YES / NO
57. Do you know of the West Sussex Support for Loss guidelines? YES / NO Do you use them? YES / NO
58. Are you aware of the SEAL Relationships curriculum theme of Loss? Y / N Do you use it? Y / N.
59 Is someone in your school responsible for Death and Loss Education? Y / N / NOT SURE
60. Should there be someone? Y / N
60a If yes, how would this help?
61. Does your school have a response plan to cope with the death of a pupil or staff member through
illness or accident? (not coach crash or critical incident) YES / NO /NOT SURE
62. Do you have an Information Pack to give to parents to help them understand children’s grief reactions?
YES / NO / NOT SURE
63.Have you heard of : Cruse Y / N Winston’s Wish Y / N Childline Y / N
217
Child Bereavement Network Y/ N Other support organisation? ………………………………
218
LETTERS TO SCHOOLS
LETTER 1
Dear Head teacher,
Who am I?
My name is Lorna Gray and I am a teacher at ***********
What am I doing?
As part of a post-graduate degree I am writing a thesis that hopes to provide a valuable
contribution to an understanding of how teachers manage children who are
experiencing loss, including death. The questionnaire comprises personal and
professional questions. All answers will be protected within the research by being
completely anonymous. I will not know which person has a particular subject number.
All answers about school are non-judgemental and are of interest only for this
research.
How can you help?
Although the questionnaire seems lengthy, many questions are a quick, yes/no answer.
As a serving teacher, I am aware of the constraints on teachers’ time but I am also
aware of the generosity of teachers in helping a colleague. I would therefore be most
grateful if you could ask your staff to consider completing the questionnaire which could
be placed in the enclosed stamped addressed envelope.
To increase staff confidence in the confidentiality of material, may I ask you to consider
keeping the envelope in your room or locked away in the school office until all replies
are back. If staff prefer to return the questionnaires themselves, my address is at the
bottom of the page. There is a separate covering letter for each questionnaire.
I hope that some of your staff will feel able to assist with my thesis. All findings will be
published anonymously and I will not use the name of a school or child in any
published material. I would welcome the opportunity to take up a few minutes of a Staff
Meeting to discuss the project further, if your staff would like to meet me and know
more about what I am doing. Alternately, I am happy for you to e-mail me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and in anticipation of your support.
Lorna Gray
Teacher and R.E. Subject Leader
219
LETTER 2
Dear
I am writing to all Headteachers that were in the area ‘A’ sample of schools to whom I
sent questionnaires in 2009 regarding personal bereavement and teaching bereaved
children.
Unfortunately, I needed a year off school with a severe back problem and had to delay
interviewing those teachers who had been kind enough to agree to interviews. I am
now catching up with my PhD. and contacting all schools in the sample, whether or not
they completed questionnaires.
The anonymity of respondents prevents me knowing which teachers completed a
questionnaire, who said yes to interview and who didn’t. I would therefore be very
grateful if the enclosed details could be made available to staff so that they can contact
me if they wish to do so. I can then arrange interviews with interested parties.
As a teacher myself, I appreciate the constraints on teachers’ time and understand that
an initial agreement to be interviewed is not binding.
I am very grateful for your assistance and that of any of your staff in helping me finalise
my research.
Yours sincerely
Lorna Gray
LETTER 3
Dear Headteacher /Teacher
If you are one of the respondents who still consent to being part of the interviews for
my research into the management of bereaved children in the primary school, would
you please be so kind as to email me with your name and contact details (and if
remembered, your subject number) at:
Anonymity is still assured and no research emanating from interviews will bear the
recipient’s name, the name of their school or the name of any adults or children
discussed.
The interview is to help me gain greater insight and should last no more than an hour.
The time and place for interview will be arranged separately with individual
respondents and it is hoped that all will be completed by end February 2013.
Thank you
Lorna Gray
220
LETTER 4
Dear
You may remember a piece of research that was carried out by Lorna as part of her
PhD in Social Policy which has partly examined how teachers manage bereaved
children on a daily basis. The thesis is now heading towards its final stages and Lorna
would be extremely grateful for a last piece of help.
Primary schools usually have a Critical Incident policy for major events such as coach
crashes. Your school might also have a written policy for death and loss education, for
instance a rationale of how teachers manage bereavement from day to day, the agreed
language used, and what has been agreed about school procedures for discussing
death and loss with individual children.
If your school has a Death and Loss Education policy, we wondered if you would you
be very kind and email it, or post it, by 4th April 2014. The update to the original
findings will enable Lorna to finish her PhD. If we have not heard from you by this date,
we will assume that your school does not have a written policy of this sort.
As previously agreed, all information given by schools is anonymous and is only to be
used in the interest of research, and in addition, you may choose to delete the school
name. If you would prefer to post the policy rather than email it, a letter will be arriving
enclosing a stamped address envelope so that it can be sent to:
Head of Primary Education,
**********
To send by email, please use the Subject Title: Policy for Death and Loss. The address
is
**********
Thank you very much in anticipation of your help.
Yours sincerely
[name]
221
Application for Ethical Approval
Form E1
For all staff and postgraduate students
This form should be used by ALL research students, taught postgraduate students and staff
who wish to undertake research under the name of the University of Chichester.
THIS FORM MUST BE COMPLETED AND APPROVED by the relevant persons and
approved by the relevant Committees prior to commencement of research. Full guidance on
the Application process can be found at Appendix 2 and 5 in the Ethical Policy Framework.
APPLICANTS – if the study involves participants each Application must be submitted
alongside relevant consent forms, information letters/sheets, and debriefing sheets where
appropriate. This documentation should be version numbered and dated.
AUTHORISER:
Please categorise the application (A or B). For category A & B applications please
ensure that the signed form and all relevant documentation is submitted to the Ethical
Approval Sub-group (research@chi.ac.uk).
2
Where Applicants are postgraduate research students, supervisors should authorise this
form; where applicants are staff members, their Head of Academic Department (or
nominated signatory) should authorise this form; where applicants are Heads of
Academic Departments, the relevant Deputy Dean (or nominated signatory) should
authorise this form.
BOX 1: Basic Information
Title of Study:
The Management of Death and Loss in the Primary School
Name of Applicant Lorna Louise Gray
Position of Applicant PGR Student for PhD
Name of Authoriser Professor Chris Gaine
Position of Authoriser:
Retired Professor of Applied Social
Policy, University of Chichester
222
BOX 2. Authoriser Assessment
Authoriser assessment:
(please delete
as appropriate)
Category A: Proceed
OR
Category B: Submit to the Ethical
Sub-group for Approval
1. Brief description of purpose of study/rationale
t
This inter-disciplinary thesis began in 2008 for the purpose of exploring the ways that
primary school teachers manage bereaved children on a daily basis. Qualitative data has
ebeen supported by a purposive sample of 13 schools in Are
a ‘A’ of West Sussex to
which Questionnaires were sent in 2011.
I now need to update the data to ascertain whether the sample schools have since
written a whole-school policy specifically for day-to-day Death and Loss education. To
do this, I need to approach the original schools and ask the Headteachers to send their
policy, should one exist.
All schools have the option to post or email the replies within two weeks of the request,
and may delete the name of the school should they wish to do so to preserve anonymity.
2. Does the study involve human
participants? No
NB: the University does not conduct
research on animals. If your project
involves animals in anyway please seek
advice from the Ethical Approval Sub-
Group before proceeding.
Yes
If answer to Q2 is ‘No’ then proceed to Question 20a.
Start of section dedicated to studies involving human participants
3. Brief description of methods:
(include a justification for using the particular participant group)
The participants represent a sample of Church of England, Roman Catholic and secular
schools; infant, junior and through primary, with both male and female headteachers and
staff.
Location of the study and details of any special facilities to be used:
Area ‘A’ *****************
5. Are there any conflicts of interests which
need to be considered and addressed?
For example, does the research involve
No
223
students whom you teach, colleagues,
family members? Do any of the
researchers or participants have any
vested interest in achieving a particular
outcome?)
If conflicts of interest have arisen, indicate how they have been addressed:
6a. Is the study part of routine activity which involves persons with whom
you normally work in a typical work context e.g. Teachers working with
children in a classroom setting, researchers in the performing arts working
with actors in a studio, or research involving students in an academic
setting.
No
Optional: Further information to justify answer to 6a
6b. Are the participants children or members of other vulnerable
groups (e.g.
elderly, those suffering from mental illness, those whose first language is not
English)
No
Please provide brief details and a justification:
If the answer to 6a is ‘No’ and the answer to 6b ‘Yes’, this Application must be
categorised as ‘B’. If the answer to 6a is ‘Yes’ and the answer to 6b ‘Yes’, this
Application could be categorised as ‘A’ or ‘B’; the Authoriser would make a judgement
depending on the activities and the context of the work. If the answer to 6a is ‘Yes’ and
the answer to 6b ‘No’, this Application may be categorised as Category A.
7. Basis for selection and rejection of participants in the study: e.g. participants must be
clinically obese adults; participants must be social workers over the age of 50;
participants must have achieved Grade 5 in an appropriate musical instrument
No selection other than that stated in question 3. Random within the schools chosen, all
which will be within ************ and mostly in the West of the county.
Will any payment, gifts, rewards or inducements be offered to participants to
take part in the study? No
e
Please provide brief details and a justification:
9a. Is the process of the study and/or its results likely to produce distress,
anxiety or harm in the participants even if this would be what they would
normally experience in your work with them?
If yes this Application must be categorised as ‘B’
No
224
If you answered Yes to 9a, please answer 9b below:
9b. Is the process of the study and/or its results likely to produce distress or
anxiety in the participants beyond what they would normally experience in yoyour
ork with them?
No
Please provide brief details:
h
9c.What steps will you take to deal with any distress or anxiety produced? E.g. have a
evant prprofessional on-hand to support distressed/anxious participants. Careful signposting
cocounselling or other relevant professional services. Other follow
-up support.
l
10. Will the study involve withholding information or misleading participants as part
its methodology? (Please refer to Section 10 of the Ethical Policy Framework for
rother guidance)
’
If yes this Application must be categorised as ‘B’
e Please provide details:
No
11.a. Does your proposal raise other ethical issues apart from the potential for
distress, anxiety, or harm? No
11b. If your answer to 11a. was ‘yes’, please briefly describe those ethical issues and how yo
intend to mitigate them and/or manage them in the proposed study.
lWill
informed consent of the participants be obtained and if so, how?
9
NB: Ethical approval should, in general, be sought before research
participants are approached.
Informed consent will be given by the willing response of the professionals
involved to my inquiry.
Yes
Date consent obtained:
Written or oral?
Please specify. Oral consent will not be considered adequate other than in
exceptional circumstances and must be appropriately justified in your application
you may use Box 22 for this purpose)
Copy of signed consent form attached?
N/A
225
a
13. In legal terms, is there anyone whose permission has to be sought in
order to conduct your study? e.g. parents/guardians of child
rparticipants.
No
Please give details.
Date consent obtained:
Written or oral?
e
Please specify. (Oral consent will not be considered adequate other than th
exceptional circumstances and must be appropriately justified in
your ap
p
plication - you may use Box 22 for this purpose)
Copy of informed consent form attached?
N/A
t 14. It is normally required that the confidentiality of participants is
a guaranteed at the outset of, during and after the research study.
Will this be the case? If the answer is ‘yes’ please describe how you will
e maintaining the confidentiality of participants. If the answer is ‘no’ please
justify the exceptional circumstances that mean that confidentiality will not
o be guaranteed.
Yes
e
Please give details:
Date consent obrtained:
Written or oral?
Please provide details:
a Participants were previo
usly assured of anonymity when completing the
u questionnaires. Headteachers have been reminded that they have the
right to delete the name of the school from any policy sent to me.
16. It is normally required that the anonymity of participants is maintained
n and/or that an individual’s responses are not linked with their identity. Will
this be the case? If the answer is ‘yes’ please describe how you will be
maintaining the anonymity of participants. If the answer is ‘no’ please
justify the circumstances that mean that anonymity will not be guaranteed.
NB: in group studies it is likely that each individual in the group will be aware
that others in the group are participating in the study – they are therefore not
anonymous to each other. However, their identity should not normally be
associated with their individual responses. In some studies individual
participants may not want their identify known to other participants and the
study must be designed and undertaken accordingly.
Yes
226
Please provide details:
The schools will not be named and I am not aware of which teachers responded
initially nor which ones may respond this time. All questionnaires were given a Subject
Number only.
It isnormally required that the anonymity of participants is maintained and/or
at an individual’s responses are not linked with the
ir identity. Will this be the
case? If the answer is ‘yes’ please describe how you will be maintaining the
anonymity of participants. If the answer is ‘no’ please justify the
circumstances that mean that anonymity will not be guaranteed.
No
Please provide details:
As it will be anonymous data, it will not be necessary (or possible) for individuals to
veto information.
18. Does the project involve the use of or generation/creation of audio visual
or electronic material directly relating to the participants? No
If yes, please describe how the collection and storage of this will be managed bearing in
mind data protection and anonymity issues (see paragraphs 9.7 and 11.7 of the Ethical
Policy Framework).
19. Please outline how participants will be debriefed
(
Please refer to paragraph 10.2 of the Ethical Policy Framework for further guidance)
e A letter will be sent to all participant schools once the thesis is finished offering staff
the opportunity to ask me about the material used.
End of section dedicated to studies involving human participants
All applicants to complete questions 20a to 25
a.
20a. Might the research entail a higher than normal risk of damage to the
reputation of the University, since it will be undertaken under its
auspices? (e.g. research with a country wi
th questionable human rights,
re
search with a tobacco company.).
No
20b. If yes, please describe the potential risk to the University’s reputation and how this
risk will be mitigated.
21. Will your results be available in the public arena? (e.g. publication in
journals, books, shown or performed in a public space, presented at a
conference, internet publication and placing a dissertation in the library)
Yes
227
If yes, please provide brief details:
Dissertation in library, possible journal publication, possible conference
presentations locally.
22. Are there any additional comments or information you consider relevant, or any
additional information that you require from the Committee?
For Authorisers:
23.Please provide a comment on your assessment of the research project, and
where necessary indicate what further information is
required.
In my view this application presents no significa
nt ethical issues, and merely up
a
updates research that has already been approved by the committee. The intended
respondents are responsible professionals who can make an informed decision
b about supplying information, or not, and are guaranteed anonymity.
24.
In your view, does the proposed study potentially contravene any
c
aspect of established codes of practice in your discipline?
(For instance, the codes of practice of the British Sociological Association,
British Psychological Society, and British Education Research Association
are available on the internet.)
No
25.If yes, please give details and identify issues you wish the Ethics Committee
to discuss/resolve:
Approval
Signature of Applicant: ……………………………………………….
Date:
……………….
Signature of Authoriser: ……………………………… Date: …18 March 2014
4
I the Applicant √ and I the Authoriser √ have read the Ethical Policy Framework
e
(please tick)
CATEGORY B: Signature of the Chair of the Ethics Committee (or authorised
signatory)
Signature: ……………………………………
Date
…………………………………
228
EMAILS
1. LETTERS REQUESTING INFORMATION
From: **********> To: lornagray******
> Subject: Data
> Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 16:16:57 +0000
Lorna, it is with great regret that I have to report that the counselling team will not be in
a position to answer your request for information. I am very embarrassed in having to
relay this message to you, and recognise in turn the considerably more difficult position
it places you in. When your original request came in some months ago, it was passed
on to the team manager for action, and perhaps naively I had assumed it had been
dealt with, with hindsight I should have checked. Subsequently, with your later
communication, both ***** and I have chased the information, but I heard from the team
this week that the they are at full capacity and are unable to respond. The team
manager did say that she had communicated to you that they could not respond, but
again, I am not aware that this happened.
I am really very sorry about this. Part of the issue is that the team no longer come
under my leadership and have moved to a different part of the council, and I have little
influence over work requests. I will however follow this up with the service manager, as
it is at the very least discourteous and not helpful to leave you hanging on for so long,
and ask him to speak with the team about this lack of delivery. I have spoken with
*********who heads up ******* teams, and asked him if he has any information that he
may be able to provide in this
respect that may be of help. I have copied him in to this email and he is happy that you
contact him if there is anything that might be of help to you. This is not the way
********would like to be seen to both respond to and help partners, and it is not typical
of the service we offer, but in your case you have been very let down, and I can only
once again apologise.
With regret, *****
2.
From: Lorna Gray Sent: 27 September 2014 13:34 To: **************
Subject: THANKYOU FROM LORNA
Dear *******
Thank you so much for your email and the information which I received through the
FoI Act.
I understand from your reply that when the need arises, there is support for schools
through the Ed. Psychs. I had experience of this when a child in my school died. I
229
assume it is up to each school to ask for this help and that some school don't ask?
I wondered if you could tell me whether the decision to no longer supply
***************Schools with a Counselling Service is a financial one, and who made that
decision. I assume that some schools are not using their Pupil Premium this way
despite the money being there.
Having researched charities such as Place2be, which seems to have been successful
but doesn't seem to be used in*********, I assume the schools can opt to use external
charities for school-based counselling?
I would so love to wrap up this chapter, and this is the bit I need to finish it! I did phone
you, but it was Friday and I think I missed you.
Very best wishes,
Lorna Gray
3.
From: *********
To: lornagray Subject: RE: THANKYOU FROM LORNA
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:28:19 +0000
Hi Lorna
Thank you for your e-mail. You are correct that for our service to offer support to a
school they need to request this from us- schools have varying degrees of confidence
and experience in supporting pupils who have experienced bereavement and may feel
that they do not require external support.
I am afraid that I don’t know why ******** no longer has a school counselling service – I
did not manage this team. Their manager was ********if you did want to contact him
directly.
Schools are able to commission their own counselling support from external providers
and some probably do so – either on an individual school basis or as part of a locality
group of schools.
I hope this helps and wish you all the best with the completion of your thesis.
Regards
*******
230
School-related Material
SCHOOL POLICY FOR DEATH AND LOSS EDUCATION
Rationale
As a church school, we have a responsibility to promote Christian values and to
prepare children for adult life. Within and without the curriculum, we will try to allow
opportunities for children to investigate and respond to the fundamental questions of
human experience, including questions about life, death and loss. We aim to support
the staff and bereaved families in the school community.
Aims
We aim to:-
explore the fundamental questions of life and death in a religious context.
encourage children to develop their spirituality, by discussing thoughts and feelings
about life, dying, death, loss and mourning in Christian and other religions.
acknowledge and be aware of the many types of loss that result in bereavement
and how children may be affected.
develop empathy towards, and sensitivity to, the needs and feelings of adults and
children who are soon to be bereaved or who have been bereaved.
accept that children and adults who are bereaved may require additional help,
support and understanding while in school.
provide information for staff to assist them in giving the required support to children
and adults.
Guidelines
To achieve these aims, a Support Group will;
provide an Action Plan for whole-school procedure upon the death of a staff
member or child.
be aware of the available, external support associations and how to access them.
Teachers will:
ensure that all staff are notified of an imminent or existing bereavement.
231
offer the School Support Pack to any staff or parents who are soon to be bereaved
or who have suffered a recent loss.
be aware of the resources provided by the school that can be used in class.
read the relevant material outlining how children grieve, and how they can
be helped to manage their grief.
be aware of the correct terminology to use when talking to a bereaved child.
offer children the opportunity to question, reflect on and express their feelings about
death and loss in the safe environment of the classroom.
provide opportunities for a grieving child or adult to discuss their thoughts and
feelings with the class teacher, or a nominated teacher from the Support Team.
ensure that all Support Staff and, if appropriate, Supply Staff are acquainted with
the school policy for Death and Loss and know which children or adults are
bereaved.
ensure that the next year’s teacher is aware that a child has suffered a loss.
attend staff- training related to Death and Loss education.
continue to promote the Pebbles Memorial and if necessary, agree a whole school
permanent memorial for deceased pupils or staff.
Lorna Gray 2010 (to be reviewed 2015)
Appendix 2
233
2.
School Memorial Bowl
235
GLOSSARY
Before Common Era (BCE)
A replacement for the previous abbreviation BC, and meaning a time before the
accepted era that Jesus Christ was thought to be living.
Circle Times
A whole school approach in early years and primary settings, which helps develop
SEAL, PSHE and improves the emotional wellbeing of children292.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Training for staff that is funded from the school budget, either related to subject
leadership, such as Literacy, or whole school issues, such as Child Protection.
Sometimes, this is during a Staff Meeting time, led by the Staff; or led by a bought-in
advisor, or a paid-for course for teachers.
Green paper293
Green Papers are Government produced consultation documents which aim to allow
people both inside and outside Parliament to give feedback to the department on its
policy or legislative proposals.
School-Action Plus
This is a measure following from School Action, whereby SEN children are assessed
and helped by agencies external to the school, such as speech therapists, art
therapists and educational psychologists.
Special School
A school, which is specially organised to make special educational provision for pupils
with special educational needs. Special schools maintained by the LEA comprise of
community special schools and foundation special schools, and non maintained special
292 Jenny Mosley’s Quality Circle time for Educational Training and Resources. [online]
Available at http://www.circle-time.co.uk (accessed 12.11.1.5)
293 UK Parliament [online] Available at http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/green-
papers/ (accessed 3.11.15)
236
schools are approved by the Secretary of State under section 342 of the Education Act
1996’294.
Statemented Children
A statement of Special Educational Needs is a system which, if agreed, allows children
under sixteen years of age additional one to one help, with the first £6000 paid for by
the school, as stated in the 2013 -2014 School Funding Reform Arrangements (2012:
17: b)295.
White paper 296
White papers are Government produced policy documents that set out proposals for
future legislation. White Papers may include a draft version of a planned Bill, providing
a basis for further consultation and discussion with interested or affected groups.
Final changes can be made before a Bill is formally presented to Parliament.
294 Department for Education and Skills (DfES) SEN Code of Practice 2001: 581/2000) [online]
Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273877/special_e
ducational_needs_code_of_practice.pdf
295 Department for Education (DfE) (2012) School Funding Reform: Arrangements for 2013-
2014.[online] Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/244364/school_fu
nding_reform_-_final_2013-14_arrangements.pdf (accessed 3.11.15)
296 UK Parliament [online] Available at http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/white-
paper/ (accessed 3.11.15)
237
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